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SHORT VIEW 

OP THE 

WHOLE SCRIPTURE HISTORY: 

WITH 

A CONTINUATION OF THE JEWISH AFFAIRS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT, 

TILL THE TIME OF CHRIST, AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

PROPHECIES THAT RELATE TO HIM. 

ILLUSTRATED WITH 

Various Remarks on the History and the Religion of the Patriarchs, Jeics, 

and Christians, and on the Laws, Government, Sects, 

Customs, and Writings of the Jews. 

BY I. WATTS, D. D. 



ALSO, AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM, 

ESTABLISHING THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY ! 

The whole carefully Revised and Corrected ; with Notes, 

BY THE REV. B. P. AYDELOTT, M. D. 

Rector of Grace Church, Philadelphia. 






PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY M'CARTY & DAVIS, 

NO. 171 MARKET STREET. 

1832. 



>(p 



RECOMMENDATIONS OF THIS WORK. 



0> $ 



Dear Sir, 

THE Subscribers are happy to learn that you propose publish 
ing " A Short View of the whole Scripture History, with a continuation 
of the Jewish affairs, from the Old Testament, till the time of Christ, 
and an account of the chief prophecies that relate to him, &c." By 
I. Watts, D. D. It is a most valuable work, and in this age of bibles 
may be expected to obtain an ample circulation. 
Wm. Staughton, D. D. 

Pastor of the Baptist Church, Sansom st. 
Wm. E. Ashton, 

Pastor of the Baptist Church, BlocUey. 
John P. Peckworth, 

Pastor of the Third Baptist Church. 

Mr. Rufus Little. 

The Work above mentioned, when some allowances are made for 
the time when it was written*, and the state of the church of Christ in 
the days of Doctor Watts, deserves high commendation. It is particu- 
larly suited to the instruction of youth. 

James P. Wilson, D. D. 

Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. 
Joseph Pilmore, D. D. 

Rector of St. PauVs Church. 
Jas. Patterson, 

Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, 
in the Northern Liberties. 
Philadelphia, Sept 1819. 



* The particular deficiencies above alluded to, have been carefully sought 
after, and, as far as possible, removed by the Editor of this edition. 

2 



M7/ 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1831, by M'Carty 
and Davis, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern Dis- 
trict of Pennsylvania. 



I 



CONTENTS. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

PAGE 

The Introduction, .... .13 

An account of the several dispensations of God toward 

men, 14 

Chap. I. The history of mankind before the flood, 

namely, of Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Enoch, &c. . ib. 
Chap. II. Of Noah, Abraham, and their families after 

the flood, . . . . . . . 20 

Sect. 1. Of Noah and his Sons, .... ib. 

Sect. 2. Of Abraham and Lot, Ishmael and Isaac, . 22 
Sect. 3. Of Esau and Jacob, and their posterity, . 27 
Chap. III. The deliverance of the Israelites from 

Egypt, by Moses and Aaron, ... 31 

Chap. IV. Of the Moral Law, ... 35 

Chap. V. Of the Ceremonial Law of the Jews, . 38 

Sect. 1. Of the Ceremonies of Purification, . ib. 

Sect. 2. Of the holy persons, namely, Priests, Le- 

vites, and Nazarites, ... .41 

Sect. 3. Of the holy places, particularly the Taber- 
nacle, ....... 43 

Sect. 4. Of the holy things, namely, the ark, table, 
candlestick, altars, laver, holy garments, sacrifices, 
incense, ointment, water of purification, &c. . 44 
Sect. 5. Of the holy times, feasts, and fasts, the sab- 
baths, the new moons, the passover, pentecost, 
feast of tabernacles, day of atonement, &c. . 52 
Sect. 6. The use of the Jewish ceremonies both to 
the Jews and to Christians, .... 56 

3 



iv CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chap. VI. Of the political or judicial law of the Jews, 
namely, of their wars, marriages, food, raiment, 
cattle, sabbatical year, jubilee, &c. . . 59 

Chap. VII. Of the sins and punishments of the Jews 
in the wilderness, 65 

Chap. VIII. Of the Jews' entrance into Canaan, and 
their first government by judges, . . . 68 

Sect. 1. Of their possession of Canaan, and destroy- 
ing the old inhabitants, . . . ib. 

Sect. 2. Of the government of the Jews by judges ; 
namely, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Jeph- 
thah, Sampson, &c 73 

Chai> &. Of the government of the Jews under their 
jpngs ; and first of Saul and David, . . 79 

Chap. X. Of the reign of Solomon and Rehoboam over 
all Israel, and the division of the nation into two 
kingdoms, . . . . ... 88 

Chap. XI. Of the kings of Israel, ... 92 
Chap. XII. Of the kings of Judah, . . . 99 

Chap. XIII. Of the return of the Jews from captivity, 
and the building the city Jerusalem and the tem- 
ple, under the conduct of Ezra and Nehemiah, . 110 
Chap. XIV. The history of Job, ... 118 
Chap. XV. The history of Jonah, ... 120 
Chap. XVI. The history of Jeremiah, . . 122 
Chap. XVII. The history of Daniel, . .' . 128 
Chap. XVIII. The history of Esther, . . 133 

Chap. XIX. A continuation of the Jewish history from 
the end of the Old Testament to the time of Christ, 136 

Sect. 1. Of Nehemiah's further reformation; of sy- 
nagogues, targums, Samaritans, proselytes, &c. ib. 

Sect. 2. Of the Jewish affairs under the Persian and 
Grecian monarchies, and particularly under Alex- 
ander the Great, 143 

Sect. 3. The Jewish affairs under the Ptolemies, 
kings of Egypt. Of the great Synagogue, the 



CONTENTS. v 

PAGE 

Mishnah and Talmud, and the Septuagint, or 
Greek translation of the Bible, . . ♦ 145 

Sect. 4. Of the Jewish affairs under Antiochus the 
Great, Seleucus, and Antiochus Epiphanes, king 
of Syria, 151 

Sect. 5. Of Mattathias the great reformer, the father 
of the Maccabees, . . . . . 155 

Sect. 6. Of the Jewish .government under the As- 
moneanr or Maccabees ; and first of the three bro- 
thers, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon, . . 159 

Sect. 7. Of the posterity and successors of Simon, 
and of the several sects among the Jews, namely, 
Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Herodians, and 
Karaites, . 171 

Sect. 8. Of the government of Herod the Great, and 
his posterity, . . . . . 185 

Chap. XX. A prophetical connexion between the Old 
Testament and the New, by a view of the prophe- 
cies relating to Christ, and their accomplishment, 196 



THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

Chap. XXI. Of John the Baptist, . . . 211 

Chap. XXII. Of the birth and childhood of Jesus 

Christ, . . . '. . . . 216 

Chap. XXIII. Of the public life and ministry of Christ, 219 

Introduction. His preparation for his public work, ib. 

Sect. 1. Jesus Christ's appearance, with the charac- 
ters of the Messiah, . . .' . . . 221 

Sect. 2. Of the subjects of his preaching, his para- 
bles, disputes, &c, ..... 222 

Sect. 3. Of the miracles of Christ, . . 228 

Sect 4. The example of Christ, . ,. . . 230 

Sect. 5. His calling the apostles, and instructing 
them, . . . ... 231 

Sect. 6. His appointment or institution of the two 
sacraments, . ... . 233 



vi CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Sect. 7. Remarkable occurrences or transactions in 
the life of Christ, 235 

Chap. XXIV. Of the death, resurrection, and ascen- 
sion of Christ, 239 

Sect. 1. Of his sufferings, death, and burial, . ib. 

Sect. 2. Of the resurrection of Christ, and his seve- 
ral appearances to his disciples, . . . 245 

Sect. 3. Of his ascension to heaven, . . 247 

Chap. XXV. Of the acts of the apostles, chiefly Peter 
and John, and the deacons Stephen and Philip, 248 

Chap. XXVI. The acts of Paul the apostle, his travels 
and sufferings, his life and death, . . 257 

The Destruction of Jerusalem : an absolute and irre- 
sistible proof of the divine origin of Christianity, 277 



THE 

PREFACE, 



THE DESIGN OF SUCH A SHORT VIEW OF SCRIPTURE 
HISTORY, AND THE ADVANTAGES OF IT. 



The Holy Scripture is divided into two books, which are 
commonly called the Old Testament and the New. And as each 
of these books contained several articles or propositions which 
God has revealed to men, for the direction of their faith and 
practice in the successive ages of the world ; so there are several 
histories contained in them, or narratives of the lives and deaths 
of men, of the aifairs of nations, and especially of the transactions 
of God with mankind. 

Some knowledge of these historical matters is necessary and 
useful, in order to obtain a more clear and full acquaintance with 
the principles of our holy religion, as well as to assist and engage 
us in the practice of it by way of motive. It is the history all 
along introduces the peculiar doctrines and duties ; and all the 
latter revelations of the mind and will of God, relating to religion, 
have some connection with, and dependence upon the events 
which went before. 

The very gospel of Christ consists partly in the history of 
his life and death; nor can the other part of it, namely, the 
doctrines and duties, be so well understood without some 
knowledge of the law of Moses, the ceremonies of the Jews, the 
religion of the patriarchs, and the transactions of God with Adam, 
the first father of all mankind. 

The great and blessed God, at one single view, surveys all his 
own works and designs, from the beginning to the end of them ; 
and every part of his grand scheme stands in a delightful harmony 
with the rest. He ordained all his more early dealings with men 
in such a manner, as to let in divine light by several gradations 
upon a dark world, and to lay a happy foundation for his latest and 
best revelation made by his own Son, and his apostles ; and in 
many cases the former laws, ordinances, and transactions, are 

7 



viii PREFACE. 

evidently designed to prefigure and shadow out, as well as to 
introduce those which follow. Adam, our first father, by whom 
sin and death were brought into the world, was a type or figure 
of Jesus the second Adam, who brought in righteousness and 
life, Rom. v. 14. 1 Cor, xv. 21, 22, 45, 49. The law of Moses 
was a, shadow of the good things which were to come; but the 
body and substance of these blessings was given us by Christ 
our Saviour, Col. ii. 17. Heb. x. 1. And it is certain we may 
obtain a more extensive and complete knowledge of Christianity, 
by our acquaintance with the sacred affairs of Adam and Noah, 
of Abraham and Moses, and the sons of Israel. 

Besides, it is the history of the Bible which hath conveyed 
down to us the knowledge of those miracles and divine wonders 
which have been wrought by the prophets, the immediate mes- 
sengers of Heaven, to prove that they were sent of God : it is in 
this history we read those prophecies of things to come, together 
with the accomplishment of them, which stand in a beautiful 
connection from the beginning of the world to the days of 
the Messiah. All of them join to confirm our faith in the several 
revelations of religion which God has made to the sons of men ; and 
all concur to establish the last and noble scheme of»religion, that 
is, Christianity. Thus the very history of scripture may have a 
powerful and rational influence, by divine grace, to establish our 
belief of the gospel, and to make us christians upon solid and 
reasonable grounds. 

I add yet further, that in the historical parts of scripture we 
read the holy laws of God, exemplified in the life and practice 
of good men in several ages of the world. And when we see 
the rules of religion copied out in the words and actions of our 
fellow-creatures, it renders the performance of them more practi- 
cable and more delightful to us. While the word of command 
stands in the law to require our obedience, the actual obedience 
of our fathers to those commands recorded in the history, invites 
our imitation, and makes the work more easy, and, at the same 
time, strips the slothful and disobedient of every excuse. 

To conclude : we find not only the precept but the sanctions of 
the law of God exemplified in the narratives of scripture. How 
often do we read the promises of God fulfilled in the rewards of 
the righteous, and his threatenings executed against wilful trans- 
gressors ] These things set the government of God before our 
eyes in a stronger 'light; they show us that his words of promise 
and threatenings arc not empty sounds ; and make it appear with 
sensible conviction, that he will certainly reward, and that he will 
as certainly punish. The many wonderful instances of a divine 



PREFACE. ix 

providence which concerns itself in the affairs of men, and which 
are recorded in the word of God, have a natural tendency to 
awaken our fear of so great and glorious a being, and to en- 
courage our hope and trust in him. In a word, the perfections 
of God, whereby he made and governs the world, are set before 
our eyes by the Scripture History in such divine colours, as give 
us a more awful and amiable idea of God himself, than any 
words of description could have done, without such an historical 
account of his works of nature, grace and providence. 

Since then it appears, that some knowledge of the history of 
Scripture is necessary and useful to every one among us who 
would know and love God, and be a partaker of his favour, the 
next thing to be inquired is, how this knowledge may be best 
attained ? How shall persons, whose capacity is weak, or who 
have little time to employ on these subjects, be led in the shortest 
and easiest way to a competent acquaintance with the sacred 
history ] And how shall those who are young in years be train- 
ed up in the plainest and most alluring manner to some know- 
ledge of these important affairs, till their growing age and further 
advantages shall give them a more extensive and capacious view 
of all the transactions between God and men recorded in Scrip- 
ture 1 

The Bible itself is a very large Book ; and though it ought 
to be read by persons of all characters and conditions, yet the 
reducing of the several things contained in it to a short and 
narrow view, by way of abridgment, is exceeding useful, at 
least for youth, and for persons who have fewer conveniences 
and advantages of knowledge. I have made this sufficiently evi- 
dent with regard to the doctrines and duties of religion, in my 
discourse concerning the composition and use of Catechisms, to 
which I refer my reader : and the same argument will hold good 
with regard to the historical part of Scripture. There I have 
shown particularly, how needful it is to collect the great articles 
and rules of our religion, which lie scattered up and down in the 
Bible, into a shorter scheme for the use of younger understand- 
ings ; and I have given my reason, also, why the Catechetical 
method of question and answer is preferable to all other me- 
thods of instruction ; and I need not repeat the same things here 
with regard to sacred history. 

It is proper the reader should know, that at the end of the 
history of the Old Testament I have inserted one chapter, wherein 
the Jewish affairs are continued from the time of Nehemiah, 
(where the sacred writers end) down to the time of Christ and 
the gospel. This is borrowed from the best ancient writings we 



x PREFACE. 

have of these events, namely, the book of Maccabees in the 
Apocrypha, and the history of Josephus ; though I am greatly 
indebted also to Dr. Prideaux's historical connection of the Old 
and New Te»tament, wherein these narratives are so happily 
reduced to a Chronological order, and embellished and improved 
with many valuable hints from heathen historians. 

And to render the work yet more useful in these days of in- 
fidelity, I have added another chapter, which I call a prophetical 
connection between the Old and New Testament, wherein the 
most eminent prophecies relating to our blessed Lord are set 
down in one view, together with their accomplishment; that 
younger minds may see how much this great Messiah, or anointed 
Saviour was foretold and expected through all ages, and may 
have their faith of Christ built early upon a solid foundation. 

I have nothing more to add, but to acquaint the reader with 
the method I have taken in composing this work, and with the 
use he should make of it. 

In framing this- book, I have observed the following rules, 
namely : 

1. I have proceeded, for the most part, according to the order 
of things, as they lie in the books of Scripture ; but still endea- 
vouring to maintain some connection throughout the whole his- 
tory. Yet I cannot say I have always reduced things to that 
order in which they were transacted. For in several places I 
found that a strict observation of chronology, would have inter- 
mingled too many incidents of different kinds, would have broken 
the scheme of things I had proposed, or interrupted the narrative 
of some particular event, and rendered the history much more 
unconnected and disagreeable to those for whom I write. 

2. Though I have not been solicitous to insert every incident, 
and the name of every person contained in the Old Testament, 
yet I have omitted scarcely any name or remarkable transaction 
which has been referred to or cited in the New, or has any con- 
nection with the gospel of Christ. It was not possible to insert 
all the particular narratives contained in the Scripture, without 
making another book almost as big as the bible itself: whereas 
my prime design was to give an abstract or short view of the 
sacred history, for the use of persons of such age, capacities, or 
conditions of life, as are not able to attend to much reading, nor 
gain a fuller and more accurate knowledge of the transactions of 
God with men. 

3. I have added the chapter and verse of one or more texts of 
Scripture to every answer that it required, that the reader might 
be invited to search his bible, and there gain a larger and more 



PREFACE. xi 

particular acquaintance with those historical matters which I 
have briefly mentioned in a line or two. If young persons by 
this means are allured to grow familiar with the word of God, I 
am persuaded th§ advantages they may reap thereby, will richly 
compensate all their labours in reading this historical abridg- 
ment of Scripture, and all my pains in writing it. 

4. It is all divided into chapters, and some chapters into sec- 
tions, with a new title to each. This will, in some measure, 
give a comprehensive view of the method and order of the whole. 
It is evident that the catechetical form of question- and answer 
takes off the tiresomeness of reading from younger minds, and 
perpetually allures their inquiry and curiosity onward, by short 
answers, without the weariness which arises from many long 
continued pages of mere narrative : and in the same manner a 
proper distinction of the history into chapters and sections, under 
different titles, renders the work of reading much more delightful, 
by the frequent returning rests and pauses. 

5. Since I originally intended it for persons of younger years, 
and ordinary attainments, I have studied generally to use such 
words and forms of speech as are most plain and easy to be 
understood. 

6. Yet I have not so confined myself to the service of my 
unlearned readers, as to neglect all useful criticisms and occa- 
sional remarks to clear up difficulties; but have freely inter- 
spersed them throughout the whole book, so far as may inform 
the inquisitive, and give some hints to the more intelligent reader, 
for the further illustration of some passages of scripture, both in 
the Old Testament and the New. 

Let me here speak a word or two more of the particular uses 
which may be made of this summary of sacred history. 

It may not be an improper book to lie constantly in the nursery 
or parlour, to assist the instruction of children, or the conversation 
of grown persons. And if this and other useful books were suf- 
fered always to lie in the places appointed for servants, it might 
be an allurement to them to employ some of their leisure in a 
profitable manner. The placing it in any room of usual resi- 
dence, may entice persons often to look into it, and lead them 
into an easy acquaintance with the various dealings of God with 
men from the beginning of the world. 

Nor can I think it would be a vain or useless employment for 
persons who are not furnished with better advantages for scrip- 
tural knowledge, to read it over once in a year or two, in order 
to keep these sacred memoirs ever fresh in their minds. Half a 



xii PREFACE. 

chapter in a week would be no heavy task, and this would finish 
it in one year's time.* 

May the divine blessing attend this feeble endeavor to diffuse 
the knowledge of divine things among mankind, and to furnish 
families with useful matter for conversation, whereby they may 
be better secured against the temptations of loose and vicious 
writings, and vain discourse, which give an unhappy tincture to 
the imagination in early years, and tend to defile and destroy 
the soul. 

* To these uses of the work, we may now add its great importance to 
scholars, teachers, and superintendents of Sunday Schools. Those who are 
engaged in Bible-class instruction, may also find it a valuable auxiliary. 



A 

SHORT VIEW 

OF THE 

WHOLE SCRIPTURE HISTORY. 



THE HISTORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

THE INTRODUCTION. 

THERE is no history in the world so ancient as the Bible, nor is 
there any which gives us so early an account of things. The Old 
Testament begins at the creation of the world, brings us into acquaint- 
ance with Adam and Eve, our first parents, informs us of their state 
of innocence, their sin against God, and their being driven out of Para- 
dise ; it recounts the first generations of men, and their multiplied 
iniquities, which provoked God to destroy them by a flood. 

Then it treats of the character, circumstances, and conduct of Noah 
and Abraham, and of their families after the flood ; enlarging most 
upon the household of Jacob, or Israel the grandson of Abraham, who 
at the invitation of his son Joseph, went down with his family to dwell 
in Egypt, where they were enslaved by Pharaoh the king. 

The history proceeds to the deliverance of the Israelites out of 
Egyptian bondage, by Moses and Aaron, and their being set apart to 
be a peculiar people to God. It rehearses the laws and statutes which 
were given them, together with their sins and punishments while they 
were in the wilderness, travelling to the land of Canaan, which God 
had promised them. 

Then there follows an account of their conquest over the land of 
Canaan under the conduct of Joshua ; their government by judges 
several hundred years ; and after that there is a narrative of their first 
four kings, namely : Saul, David, Solomon, and Rehoboam. In his 
days the nation was divided into two kingdoms, which were called 
the kingdom of Israel, and the kingdom of Judah. ^ 

There are also particular records of the government of these two 
distinct kingdoms, under a long succession of their own kings, till they 
were both carried into captivity by the kings of Assyria. L 

After this, the sacred history relates the return of many of them 
B 13 



14 THE HISTORY OF MANKIND 

(chiefly the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) into their own land, and 
their re-building the city of Jerusalem, and the temple of God, and the 
settlement of the affairs of the church and state by Ezra and Nehemiah, 
which is the end of the historical part of the Old Testament, 

During all this time there is an account given of the several pro- 
phets and messengers which were sent from God on special occasions, 
to reveal his mind and will to men : And there is also a larger and 
more particular narrative of the lives or transactions of some extraor- 
dinary persons, several of which are much interwoven with the series 
of the history : but there are others which seem to stand separate and 
distinct; such are the affairs relating to Job, a rich man of the east; 
Jonah, a prophet in Israel; and Esther, the queen of Persia; to which 
I have added, some account of Jeremiah and Daniel the prophets, in 
distinct chapters. 

At the end of these I have put in two chapters before the beginning 
of the New Testament, which contain a historical and prophetical 
connexion between the Old Testament and the New ; of which I have 
given an account in the Introduction to those particular chapters, as 
well as in the general Preface. 



CHAPTER I. 

The History of Mankind before the Flood. 

1 Quest. HOW came this world into being] 

Ans. In the beginning the great God created heaven 
and earth, and all things that are in them, Gen. i. 1. 
Exod. xx. 11. 

2 Q. How did God create all things 1 

A. By his powerful word ; for he commanded, and it was 
done, Gen. i. 5, 6, 9, &c. Heb. ix. 3. Psalm xxxiii. 9. 

Note. We are also informed in the New Testament, that God 
created all things by his Son Jesus Christ, Eph. iii. 9, and that his 
name is The word of God, John i. 3. Rev. xix. 13. 

3 Q. What time did God employ in making the world 1 
A. God, who could have made all things at once by his 

perfect wisdom and almighty power, chose rather to do it by 
degrees, and employed six days in making the world, with 
the creatures that are in it, Gen. i. 31. Exod. xx. 11. 

4 Q. What was his work on the first day } 

A. He made light, and divided it from the darkness, and 
the evening and the morning were the first day, Gen. i. 3, 5. 

5 Q. What did God make the second day ? 



BEFORE THE FLOOD. 15 

A. The air, or the lower heavens, which are here called 
the firmament ; and the clouds, which are the waters above 
the firmament, ver. 6. 

6 Q. What did he do on the third day] 

A. He separated the earth from the sea, and made the 
trees and herbs to grow out of the ground, ver. 9 — 12. 

7 Q. What was the work of the fourth day] 

A. The sun, moon, and stars, which were appointed to 
give light upon the earth, and to make our days, our months, 
and our years, ver. 14, 19. 

8 Q. What was the fifth day's work ] 

A. The birds and the fishes, which were both made out 
of the water, ver. 20—23. 

9 Q. And what was the sixth and last day's work? 

A. Creeping things, beasts and man, which were all form- 
ed out of the earth, ver. 24 — 26 ; and God blessed his crea- 
tures and pronounced his works all very good, ver. 28, 31. 

10 Q. What did God do the seventh day ? 

A. God rested from his work of creation, and set apart the 
seventh day for a holy sabbath, or a day of rest, Gen. ii. 2, 3. 

11 Q. Who was the first man and woman that God 
made? 

A. Adam and Eve, Gen. v. 1, 2. 1 Cor. xv. 45. Gen. iii. 20. 

12 Q. In what manner did God make Adam ? 

A. He framed his body out of the dust of the ground, and 
then put a living soul within him, Gen. ii. 7. 

13 Q. How did God make Eve? 

A. He cast Adam into a deep sleep, and formed Eve out 
of one of his ribs, and then brought her to him to be his wife, 
Gen. ii. 20, 21, &c. 

14 Q. In what state did God create them ? 

A. God created them both in his own likeness, in a holy 
and happy state, which is called the state of innocence, 
Gen. i. 26. 

15 Q. Where did God put Adam and Eve, when he had 
made them? 

A. Into the garden of Eden, to keep it, and take care of 
it, that even in the state of innocence and happiness, they 
might have some work to be employed in, Gen. ii. 15. 

16 Q. What was their food in that garden? 

A. God gave them leave to eat any of the herbs, plants, or 
fruits that grew there, except the fruit of one tree, which he 



16 THE HISTORY OF MANKIND 

forbid them to taste of on pain of death, Gen. i. 29, and 
ch. ii. 16, 17. 

17 Q. What was the name of that tree 1 

A. It was called The tree of Knowledge of good and 
evil, because as soon as man eat of it, he would know evil to 
his sorrow, as well as he knew good before to his comfort, 
Gen. ii. 17, and ch. iii. 5. 

18 Q. As there was one tree so dangerous, that it ex- 
posed him to death if he eat of it, was there not also a tree 
that would secure him from death 1 

A. Yes, there was a tree called The tree of Life, placed 
in the midst of the garden, whose fruit was also able to 
have preserved him in life, if he had continued to obey God, 
Gen. ii. 9, and chap. iii. 22 ; and it is reasonably supposed to 
be designed as a pledge or seal of eternal life to him, if 
he had continued in his innocency. 

19 Q. What was the religion of Adam in the state of 
innocency 1 

A. The practice of all the duties towards God, and to- 
wards his creatures, which the light of nature or reason 
could teach him ;* together with his observance of this one 
positive precept, of abstaining from the fruit of The tree of 
Knowledge ; and this was given him as a special test or 
trial of his obedience to his Maker. This is called the dis- 
pensation of innocence. 

20 Q. How did Adam behave himself in this time of his 
trial 1 

A. He eat of the fruit of The tree of Knowledge, which 
God had forbid him on pain of death, Gen. ii. 17, and chap, 
iii. 6. 

21. Q, How came Adam to disobey God, and eat of this 
forbidden tree 1 

A. Eve was first persuaded to eat of that deadly fruit, 
and then she persuaded Adam to eat of it too, Gen. iii. 12. 

22. Q. Who tempted Eve to eat of it? 

A. The evil spirit, that is, the Devil, which lay hid in 
the serpent, Gen. iii. 1. 2 Cor. xi. 3; and for this reason he 
is called the old Serpent, Rev. xii. 9. 

23 Q. What mischief followed from hence ? 

* The Sabbath day was divinely appointed to commemorate the 
creation of all things by God, and therefore its observance was a part 
of man's duty from the first. 



BEFORE THE FLOOD, 17 

A. As Adam sinned against God, so he brought in sin and 
death among all mankind, who were his children ; and they 
have spread through all generations, Rom. v. 12. 

24 Q. Then God did not put Adam and Eve to death as 
soon as they had sinned 1 

A. No; but they were condemned to die, and become 
liable to sickness and death ; they were driven out of the 
garden of paradise, that they might not taste of the tree of 
Life, and they were appointed to labour hard for their food 
all their days, Gen. iii. 19, 23. 

25 Q. Did God, who spared their life, show them any 
further pity? 

A. Yes : he gave them a kind promise, and clothed them 
with the skins of beasts, because they were naked, Gen, 
iii. 15, 21. 

26 Q. What was the kind promise that he gave them? 
A. That the seed of the woman should bruise the head of 

the serpent, who tempted them to sin, Gen. iii. 15. 

27 Q. Who is this seed of the woman ? 

A. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who in due 
time was made of a woman, Gal. iv. 4. 

28 Q. What is meant by his bruising the serpent's head ? 
A. That Christ should destroy the wicked works and 

designs of the devil, and thereby save mankind from the sin 
and death which were brought in among them by his temp- 
tation, 1 John iii. 8. Heb. ii. 14, 15. 

29 Q. Whence came the skins of the beasts with which 
God clothed Adam and Eve ] 

A. It is likely God taught Adam to offer sacrifices at this 
time, and that these were the skins of the beasts that were 
offered in sacrifice. 

Note. Whether flesh was eaten by the religious families before 
the flood, is uncertain ; but it does not appear that God had given 
Adam express leave to eat flesh, Gen. i. 9, chap. ii. 26, and ix. 23 ; and 
then there could be no skins to be had from the beasts killed for food. 
But the sin of man deserved death : and it was probable at this time 
that God appointed beasts to be sacrificed or put to death, to show- 
that sin deserved death, and to make a typical atonement, or answer 
for the sin of man ; since cutting and burning God's living creatures, 
does not seem to be a contrivance of man himself, to appease God for 
his own sin. 

Then it is natural to suppose, that God clothed Adam and Eve 
with the skins of those beasts which were sacrificed, to show them in 
a typical or figurative way, that as clothes covered the naked body 
b2 



18 THE HISTORY OF MANKIND 

from shame and harm, so sacrifices, offered according to God's appoint- 
ment, should in some sense protect them from the punishment which 
sin had deserved. And it is very possible, God might inform Adam 
that all these appointments were only a figure of Christ the great 
sacrifice, the seed of the woman, who should make a real and effect- 
ual atonement for sin hereafter by his own death. I confess all this 
does not so evidently appear in the writings of Moses, nor could it be 
expected, where the account of things in those early times is so ex 
ceeding short, though it is very agreeable to the discoveries made 
in the following parts of Scripture. 

I add yet further, that sacrifices might be instituted at this time with 
this view and design, even though Adam himself might not be inform- 
ed of it ; for the great God does not always immediately reveal to his 
creatures the reason and design of all his precepts or his providences, 
Job xxxiii. 14.* 

30 Q. What was the religion of man after the fall, or 
sin of Adam ? 

A. All the duties of the light of nature, which were 
required before ; and beside these, he was now called to 
repentance for sin, faith or trust in the mercy of God, ex- 
pectation of the promised Saviour, and offering of sacrifices. 
This is called the Adamical dispensation of the covenant of 
grace, and it reached to Noah's flood. 

31 Q. Who were Adam's first children ? 
A. Cain and Abel, Gen. iv. 1, 2. 

32. Q. What was Cain? 

A. Adam's eldest son, and he was a tiller of the ground, 
Gen. iv. 1, 2. 

33 Q. But what mischief did Cain do? 

A. He killed his brother Abel, who was a keeper of sheep, 
Gen. iv. 2, 8. 

34 Q. Why did Cain kill him? 

A. Because his own works were evil, and God did not 
accept his sacrifice ; but his brother's works were righteous, 
and God gave some token that he accepted him, Gen. iv. 4, 
5. 1 John iii. 12. Heb. xi. 4.f 

35 Q. Whither went Cain when God reproved him for 
this murder ? 

* These views of the divine institution and import of sacrifices have 
been ably and abundantly confirmed, and more largely unfolded, in 
authors of a later date, See Magee on the Atonement. 

t The sin of Cain probably consisted in not offering an animal sa- 
crifice, according to the divine appointment, as an acknowledgment 
of guilt, and an expression of faith in the promised Saviour. Abel 
however obeyed, and was therefore pronounced " righteous," "God 
testifying of his gins." Heb. xi. 4. See Magee on the Atonement. 



BEFORE THE FLOOD. 19 

A. He went out and departed from the presence of the 
Lord, and from his father's family, where God was worship- 
ped, and dwelt in the land of Nod, Gen. iv. 16. 

36 Q. What were the posterity of Cain? 

A. Some of them are famous for the inventions of music 
and handicraft trades, but they are supposed to have ne- 
glected religion, Gen. iv. 20, 22. 

37 Q. What other sons had Adam ? 

A. Seth, who was born soon after the death of Abel, and 
several others after him, Gen. iv. 25, &c. 

38 Q. Did the children of Seth neglect religion tool 

A. Religion was publicly maintained for some generations 
in Seth's family, for they distinguished themselves from the 
wicked sons of men ; they prayed to God, and were called 
the sons of God, Gen. iv. 26, and chap. vi. 2, 4. 

39 Q. Did they grow degenerate afterwards 1 

A. All mankind grew so wicked, except a very few, that 
God saw it proper to manifest his righteous judgment, and 
his anger against sin, by destroying them, Gen. vi. 5 — 7. 

40 Q. Who were some of the chief persons of Seth's 
posterity mentioned in Scripture in those early times'? 

A. Enoch and Methuselah, Lamech and Noah, were the 
most remarkable. 

41 Q. Who was Enoch? 

A. The man who walked with God, and pleased him in 
the midst of a wicked world, and foretold the judgment of 
God on sinners, Gen. v. 22. Jude 14, 15. 

Note. When Enoch and Noah are said to walk with God, some 
learned men have supposed, that it does not only signify that they be- 
haved themselves always as in the presence of God, and conversed 
ivith him by meditation and prayer, and walked in his ways ; but that 
God appeared of old to these pious men as he did to Abraham, and 
walked and conversed with them in a bodily form ; and this was the 
original of that phrase, ' walking with God/ to signify the practiceof 
religion. 

42 Q. What became of Enoch? 

A. God took him to heaven without dying, as a peculiar 
favour and honour done to him, Gen. v. 24. Heb. xi. 5. 

43 Q. Who was Methuselah? 

A. The son of Enoch, and the oldest man that we ever 
read of, Gen. v. 21. 

44 Q. How long did he live .• 

d A. Nine hundred and sixty-nine years, Gen. v. 27. 



20 OF NOAH AND HIS SONS. 

45 Q. Who was Lamech I 

A. Noah's father, who prophesied of the blessing the 
earth should find in his son, which had been laid under a 
curse for the sin of Adam, Gen. v. 29. 



CHAPTER II. 
Of Noah, Abraham, and their families, after the flooa\ ' 

Sect. I. — Of Noah and his Sons, 

1 Q. Who was Noah 1 

A. The righteous man, who was saved, when the world 
was drowned by a flood, Gen. vii. 23. 

2 Q. How did God drown the world 1 

A. When mankind had provoked him by their sins, which 
were exceeding great, and after having warned them one 
hundred and twenty years by Noah, " a preacher of right- 
eousness," 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. Heb. xi. 7. Gen. vi. 5, 6, 7, he 
broke up the fountains of the great deep under ground, and 
caused it to rain forty days and nights, Gen. vii. 4, 11. 

3 Q. How was Noah saved 1 

A. In an ark, or great ship or vessel which God taught 
him to build, Gen. vi. 9, 14, &c. 

4 Q. Who was saved with him ? 

A. All his family, and some living creatures of every kind, 
namely, two of every unclean beast and bird, which were 
neither fit for food or sacrifice, and seven of every clean 
creature which were fit for one or both uses, Gen. viii. 2, 3, 
13, 14. 

5 Q. How long did Noah tarry in the ark? 

A. At the end of nine months, he sent forth a dove, 
which brought in an olive branch, to show him that the 
waters were abated ; and at the end of twelve months and 
ten days, he came forth, and the creatures which were with 
him, Gen. vii. 11, and viii. 5 — 13. 

6 Q. What command did God give Noah 1 

A. The offerings of sacrifices were continued, Gen. viii. 
20, 21. Flesh was given to man for food, as herbs were 



OF NOAH AND HIS SONS. 21 

before, Gen. ix. 2, 3. Blood was forbidden to be eaten, and 
the blood of man was expressly forbid to be shed, and mur- 
der was to be punished with death, Gen. ix. 4, 5, 6. 

Note. The religion of Noah was the same with that of Adam after 
his fall (see chap, I. Q. 30.) with these few additions here mentioned. 
And this was the Noahchical Dispensation of the covenant of 
grace, whereby all men, from Noah to Abraham, were to seek salva- 
tion, and whereby all besides the family of Abraham were to be 
saved, even all the heathen world, till they hear of Christ. 

7 Q. What promise did God make to Noah ? 

A. That the world should never be drowned again ; and 
it pleased God to appoint the rainbow to be a token of it, 
Gen. ix. 13—15. 

8 Q. Was there no rainbow before the flood ? 

A. As the rainbow is produced by natural causes, it doubt- 
less appeared before the flood ; but God was now pleased to 
make it a seal and pledge to the eye of faith, of his parti- 
cular engagement that the world should never again be 
overwhelmed by a deluge of water. 

9 Q. Who were Noah's three sons ? 

A. Shem, Ham, and Japhet ; and they were the fathers 
of all mankind after the flood, Gen. ix. 18, 19, and x. 32. 

10 Q. Who were the offspring or posterity of Shem ? 

A. The Persians, who came from Elam their father ; the 
Syrians from Aram ; the Hebrews from Eber, as is supposed ; 
and particularly the Jews, with other inhabitants of Asia, 
Gen.x. 21. 

11 Q. Who were the posterity of Ham ? 

A. The Canaanites, the Philistines, and others of Asia, 
and the Egyptians, with other inhabitants of Africa, Gen. x. 
6, &c. 

12 Q. Who were the posterity of Japhet? 

A. Gomer, supposed to be the father of the Germans, 
Javan of the Greeks, Meshech of the Muscovites, and other 
families that dwelt in Europe, Gen. x. 2. 

13 Q. Wherein did Ham the father of the Canaanites do 
amiss 1 

A. He saw his father Noah naked, and made sport with 
him, and he was cursed under the name of his son Canaan, 
Gen. ix. 21, 25. 

.Note. It is probable, that Canaan joined with his father Ham in 
the mockery of his grandfather Noah, and therefore he was cursed ; 
and besides, this gave early notice to the Israelites, that the Canaan- 



22 OF ABRAHAM AND LOT, 

ites, whose land God gave them to possess, were a people under an 
ancient curse. 

14 Q. What did Shem and Japhet do on this occasion 1 . 
A. They covered their father with a garment, and con- 
cealed his shame, and were blessed, Gen. ix. 23, 26, 27. 

15 Q. Did mankind freely divide themselves after the 
flood into several nations 1 

A. No; but being all of one language, they agreed rather 
to build a chief city with a tower, that all men might be 
joined in one nation or kingdom, Gen. xi. 4. 

16 Q. How did God scatter them abroad into different 
nations l 

A. By making them speak different languages, and then 
they ceased to build the tower, which was called Babel or 
Confusion, Gen. xi. 7 — 9. 

17 Q. Did God preserve the true religion in any of their 
families'? 

A. It is supposed to have been chiefly preserved in the 
family of Shem, for God is called the Lord God of Shem, 
Gen. xi. 26. 

Note. Though the knowledge of the true God and religion were 
chiefly preserved in the family of Shem, yet it is evident that some 
branches of Ham's family, and probably of Japhet's too, preserved it 
for some hundreds of years ; lor Melchisedek, a king of the Canaanites 
in Abraham's time, was a priest of the most high God : and Abime- 
lech, a king of the Philistines, feared God", and had a sense of religion; 
and both these are derived from Ham. 

Sect. II. — Of Abraham and Lot, Ishmael and Isaac. 

18 Q. Who was the most famous man of Shem's poste- 
rity in those early ages 7 

A. Abraham, the son of Terah, of the posterity of Eber, 
Gen. xi. 27. 

19 Q. What was the first remarkable thing recorded of 
Abraham 1 

A. He left his own native country to go wheresoever 
God called him, Gen. xii. 1, 4. 

20 Q. Whence did Abraham come, and whither did he 
go'! 

A. lie came first from Chaldea, then from Haran, and he 
went to dwell among strangers in the land of Canaan, Gen. 
xi. 31, and xii. 5. Heb. xi. 8, 9. 



ISHMAEL AND ISAAC. 23 

21 Q. Who came with Abraham into Canaan 1 

A. Lot his brother's son : and they brought with them all 
their substance and their households, Gen. xii. 5. 

22 Q. Did they continue to dwell together 1 

A. Their cattle and servants grew so numerous, that they 
parted for fear of strife, and Abraham gave Lot his choice 
to go to the east or the west, Gen. xiii. 1 — 9. 

23 Q. Where did Lot sojourn I 

A. He chose the east, and pitched his tent towards So- 
dom, because it was a well-watered and fruitful country, 
ver. 10—12. 

24 Q. What calamity befell Lot here ? 

A. He was carried away captive together with other in- 
habitants of Sodom, when the king of Sodom was routed in 
battle by his enemies, Gen. xiv. 

25 Q. What did Abraham do on this occasion ? 

A. He armed his own servants, three hundred and 
eighteen men, who pursued the conquerors, and routed 
them, and brought back Lot, and the other captives, with 
their goods, Gen. xiv. 14, 16. 

26 Q. When Abraham returned from the slaughter of 
the kings, what honour was done him ] 

A. Melchisedek, the king of Salem, and a priest of the 
most high God, met him and pronounced a blessing upon 
him, Gen. xiv. 18—20. . 

27 Q. What civility did the king of Sodom show Abra- 
ham 1 

A. He offered him all the goods that Abraham had reco- 
vered from the former conquerors, but Abraham refused to 
accept them, ver. 21, &c. 

28 Q. What became of Sodom afterwards 

A. It was burnt by fire and brimstone from Heaven, to- 
gether w T ith Gomorrah, and other cities, because of the 
abominable wickedness of their inhabitants, Gen. xix. 24. 

29 Q. Was there nobody to plead with God to spare 
them ] 

A. Yes, Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom, and 
God would have done it, had there been but ten righteous 
men in all the city, Gen. xviii. 23 — 33. 

30 Q. How did Lot escape ? 

A. The two angels, which were sent to destroy Sodom, 
persuaded him to fly away with his family first, Gen. xix. 15. 



24 OF ABRAHAM AND LOT, 

31 Q. How many of his family escaped this judgment ? 
A. Only himself and his two unmarried daughters, for 

his two sons-in-law refused to remove, Gen. xix. 14. 

32 Q. What became of Lot's wife? 

A. She went with him part of the way, but when she 
looked back, hankering after Sodom, she was struck dead 
immediately, perhaps with a blast of that lightning which 
burnt Sodom, and she stood like a pillar of salt, Gen. xix. 26.* 

33 Q. Was Lot a religious man 1 

A. Yes, and his righteous soul was daily vexed with the 
wicked conversation of the men of Sodom, 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8. 

34 Q. Did he maintain his righteous character ever after- 
wards ? 

A. He once was enticed into the sin of drunkenness, and 
then he let his two daughters lie with him, and abuse him, 
Gen. xix. 30, &c. 

35 Q. Had Lot any children by this sinful action ? 

A. Yes, Moab was the son of one daughter, and Ben-am- 
mi of the other ; and they were afterwards the fathers of 
the Moabites and Ammonites, who proved to be sore ene- 
mies of God's people, Gen. xix. 37, 38. 

36 Q. Thus ends the history of Lot and Sodom : Let us 
return now to Abraham : In what part of the country did he 
dwell 1 

A. When he removed from Lot he went toward the west, 
and travelling on toward the south-west, he sojourned in the 
land of Abimelech, Gen. xx. 1. 

37 Q. Who was Abimelech 1 

A. He was king of Gerar, in the country of the Philis- 
tines, Gen. xx. 2, and chap. xxi. 32. 

38 Q. What did Abimelech do at Abraham's coming 1 
A. He took Sarah, Abraham's wife, into his house ; but, be- 
ing warned of God, he restored her again, Gen. xx. 2, 6, 14. 

39 Q. How came Abimelech to take Abraham's wife ? 
A. Because she was a beautiful woman, and Abraham 

did not call her his wife, but his sister ; and by this means 
he exposed her to be taken by other men, Gen. xx. 2. 

* As nothing is spoken of Lot's wife before he went to Sodom he pro- 
bably married her there. She was loathe to leave the place, and 
was perhaps about to " return back," but was instantly struck dead, 
and petrified as a monument to successive generations of the divine 
displeasure. 



ISHMAEL AND ISAAC. 25 

40 Q. What sons had Abraham 1 

A. The two chief were lshmael and Isaac, Gen. xxv. 9. 

41 Q. Who was lshmael 1 

A. He was the son of Abraham by Hagar his servant 
maid, Gen. xvi. 15. 

42 Q. How came Abraham to take his maid to be his 
concubine % ' 

A. God had promised him a son, and he thought his wife 
Sarah was too old to have a child, and therefore by her ad- 
vice took Hagar, Gen. xvi. 1, 2. 

43 Q. What became of lshmael 1 

A. Abraham, by the command of God, turned lshmael and 
his mother out of his house into the wilderness, because 
they mocked and abused his younger son Isaac, Gen. xxi. 
9, &c. 

44 Q. Did lshmael perish in the wilderness 1 

A. The angel of God appeared to Hagar, and showed her 
a spring of water when they were dying with thirst ; and 
lshmael grew up to be a great man, and the father of a large 
nation, Gen. xxi. 16 — 20, and xxv. 16. 

45 Q. Who was Isaac's mother 1 

A. Isaac was the son of Abraham, by Sarah his wife, ac- 
cording to the promise of God, when they were both grown 
old, Gen. xxi. 1, &c. Rom. ix. 7, 8. Heb. xi. 11, 12. 

46 Q. Why is Abraham called the father of the faithful, 
that is, of the believers ] 

A. Because he believed the promises of God against all 
probable appearance, and was a pattern to other believers 
in all ages, Gen. xv. 16. Rom. iv. 11, 12. 

47 Q. What were the three chief promises which God 
gave Abraham '? 

A. 1. That he should have a son when he was a hun- 
dred years old. 2. That his children should possess the 
land of Canaan, when he had not ground enough to set his 
foot on there. And 3. That all the families of the earth 
should be blessed in him and his offspring, when he was 
but a private person, Gen. xvii. 8, 16, 17, and xii. 3. Acts 
vii. 5. 

48 Q. What did this last promise mean ] 

A. That Jesus Christ the Saviour of men should come 
from his family, Gal. iii. 8, 16. 

49 Q. What did God appoint to Abraham for a token of 

C 



26 OF ABRAHAM AND LOT, &c. 

these promises and this covenant, and of his own acceptance 
with God I 

A. He commanded him and all his sons to be circumcised 
in all generations, Gen. xvii. 7 — 10. Rom. iv. 11. 

50 Q. What was the religion of Abraham 1 

A. The same with the religion of Adam after the fall in 
chap. I. Q. 30. and the religion of Noah under chap. II. Q. 
6. with the addition of circumcision, and the expectation of 
Canaan to be given to his seed, as a type of heaven, and a 
trust in the promise of the Saviour as one who should spring 
from him, and bless all nations. 

Note. This was called the Abrahamical dispensation, but it was 
confined to the family of Abraham, in the literal sense of it ; with 
those temporal precepts and promises, of circumcision and the inherit- 
ance of Canaan ; though, in the spiritual sense of it, it reaches to 
every good man, and thus Abraham is their father, Rom. vi. 16, 17. 

51 Q. How did Abraham further and most eminently 
show his faith'? 

A. In his readiness to offer up his son Isaac in sacrifice at 
God's command, Gen. xxii. 12. 

52 Q. And did he offer him in sacrifice'? 

A. No, God withheld his hand, and sent a ram to be sa- 
crificed in his stead, Gen. xxii. 13. 

53 Q. What further favours did Abraham receive from 
God? 

A. God visited him, and conversed with him as a friend 
several times in a visible manner, and changed his name 
from Abram to Abraham, Gen. xv, and chap, xvii, and xviii. 
James ii. 23. 

54 Q. What is written concerning Sarah, Abraham's 
wife? 

A. She believed God's promise, and had a son, at ninety 
years old, and her name also was changed from Sarai to Sa- 
rah, Gen. xvii. 15, 17. Heb. xi. 11. 

Note. Some learned men have supposed, that the addition of the 
Hebrew letter h to the names of Abraham and Sarah, signifies anew 
relation to God, whose name is Jah; others think it to be a part of the 
word Hamon, which signifies a multitude, because God promised 
many nations to spring from them when he changed their names, 
Gen. xvi. 5, 16.* 

* Abram signifies in Hebrew, a high father, and Abraham, ufatlier 
of a great multitude. 



OF ESAU AND JACOB, <fcc. 27 

55 Q. What is recorded concerning' Isaac their son ? 

A. He feared the God of his father Abraham, he had fre- 
quent visions of God, and went out into the fields to meditate 
or pray, and offered sacrifices to God, Gen. xxiv. 63, and 
xxvi. 2, 24, 25. 

56 Q. Who was Isaac's wife ? 

A. His father Abraham sent afar, and took a wife for him, 
even Rebecca, out of his own family in Mesopotamia, be- 
cause he was unwilling he should marry among the wicked 
Canaanites, whom God had doomed to destruction, Gen. 
xxiv. 3, 4, 51, &c. 

57 Q. What children had Isaac ? 

A. Two sons, Esau and Jacob, Gen. xxiv. 25, 26. 

Sect. III. — Of Esau and Jaco6, and their posterity. 

58 Q. What was Esau ? 

A. He was Isaac's eldest son, bred up to hunting rather 
than husbandry, who sold his birthright to his brother for a 
mess of pottage when he was faint with hunting, Gen. xxv. 
31, 33* 

59 Q. What was Jacob 1 

A. The youngest son of Isaac, who by his mother's con- 
trivance obtained his father's blessing, though not in a right 
way, Gen. xxvii. 27. 

60 Q. By what treachery did he obtain the blessing? 

A. When his father Isaac was old, and his eyes dim, by 
order of his mother he put on Esau's clothes, and told his 
father he was Esau, his eldest son, Gen. xxvii. 

61 Q. How did Esau take this ? 

A. Esau threatened to kill him, and therefore he left his 
father's house, Gen. xxvii. 41, 43. 

62 Q. Whither did Jacob go? 

A. To Laban the Syrian, who was his mother's brother, 
Gen. xxviii. 2, 5. 

63 Q. What did he meet with in going thither ; 

A. He lay down to sleep on a stone at Bethel, and had a 

* His birthright included the blessings promised by God to Abraham 
— the land of Canaan, the Messiah, and all the accompanying reli- 
gious advantages. These Esau " despised," and he is therefore called, 
? profane Esau." Heb. xii. 16, 



28 OF ESAU AND JACOB, 

holy dream of God, and of angels there ascending and de- 
scending between heaven and earth, Gen. xxviii. 12 — 14. 

64 Q. What did he do in Laban's house 1 

A. He kept his uncle Laban's cattle, and he married his 
two daughters, Leah and Rachel, Gen. xxix. 15, &c. 

65 Q. How long did he live there ? 

A. Twenty years, till he had got a large family of chil- 
dren and servants, much cattle, and great riches, Gen. xxx, 
and xxxi. 41. 

66 Q. What did Jacob meet with in his return to Ca- 
naan] 

A. He had a vision of God as of a man wrestling with 
him, Gen. xxxii. 24, &c. 

67 Q. Why was Jacob called Israel 1 

A. Because he prayed and prevailed with God for a bless- 
ing, where he wrestled with him in the form of a man, 
Gen. xxxii. 28. Hos. xiii. 4. 

68 Q. How did his brother Esau meet him'? 

A. God turned Esau's heart so, that he met hint with 
great civility, though he came out with four hundred men, 
(as Jacob feared) to destroy him, Gen. xxxii. 

69 Q. What posterity had Esau 1 

A. A large posterity, who chiefly inhabited mount Seir, 
and were called Edomites, from their father's other name, 
Edom, Gen. xxxvi. 8, 9. 

70 Q. How many sons had Jacob 1 

A. Twelve, and they were called the twelve patriarchs, 
because they were the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel, 
Gen. xxxv. 22. Acts vii. 8. Numb. i. 

71 Q. What were their names 7 

A. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, 
the sons of his wife Leah ; Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of 
his wife Rachel ; Dan and Napthali, the sons of Bilhah his 
concubine ; and Gad and Asher, the sons of Zilpah his con- 
cubine, Gen. xxxv. 23 — 26. 

72 Q. Who were the most famous of all these in sacred 
history 1 

A. Levi, Judah, and Joseph. 

73 Q. What is there remarkable concerning Levi ? 

A. The priesthood, and other things relating to the wor- 
ship of God, were committed to Levi's family in following 
times, Deut. xvii. 9, and xxxiii. 8, 10. 



AND THEIR POSTERITY. 29 

74 Q. But did not Levi do a very wicked thing in killing 
the Shechemites 1 

A. Yes; he and his brother Simeon dealt very trea- 
cherously and cruelly with them, in slaying- them after they 
had made a covenant of peace with them, Gen. xxxiv. 

75 Q. How did Jacob bear this? 

A. He severely reproved them for it, and upon his death- 
bed, by the spirit of prophecy, pronounced a curse upon them, 
that they should be scattered abroad through all the land of 
Israel, Gen. xxxiv. 30, and xlix. 5. 

76 Q. Was this curse executed 1 

A. Yes, in some measure, for the Simeonites, as well as 
Levites had their possessions scattered among all the tribes 
of Israel ; but the curse of the Levites was lightened by 
their having the priesthood given them, Joshua xxi. 

77 Q. What is there remarkable relating to Judah ? 

A. He dealt very basely with his daughter-in-law Tamar, 
and committed shameful wickedness, Gen. xxxviii. 

78 Q. Did God forgive this sin? 

A. Yes, God forgave it so far as not to punish his posteri- 
ty for it : for the kingdom and government in future ages 
was promised chiefly to his family, Gen. xlix. 10. 

79 Q. What is there remarkable said of Joseph ? 

A. His brethren sold him for a slave into Egypt, where 
he became the ruler of the land, Gen. xxxvii. 27, and chap, 
xlii. 40. Acts vii. 9, 10. 

80 Q. Why did they sell him ? 

A. For envy ; because his father loved him, and made him 
a coat of many colours, and because he dreamed that they 
should bow down to him, Gen. xxxvii. 3, 4. 

81 Q. What was his first station in the land of Egypt 1 
A. He was a servant in the house of Potiphar, a captain 

of the guard, and by a false accusation of his master's wife, 
he was cast into prison, though he was entirely innocent, 
Gen. xxxix. 

82 Q. What was the occasion of his advancement 1 

A. He interpreted the dreams of some of his fellow-prison- 
ers, and when the interpretation proved true, then he was 
sent for to court, to interpret the king's dream, Gen. xli. 

83 Q. And did this raise Joseph to be the ruler of Egypt? 
A. Yes : he was thus advanced, because he foretold the 

seven years of plenty, and seven years of famine, which 
c2 



30 OF ESAU AND JACOB, <&c. 

Pharaoh the king dreamed of under two different emblems, 
of good and bad ears of corn, and of seven fat kine and seven 
lean ones, Gen. xli. 39. 

84 Q. How did Joseph carry himself towards his bre- 
thren in his advancement ? 

A. In the famine they came down to buy corn in Egypt, 
and bowed down to him, according to his dreams ; but he 
treated them roughly at first, as a great lord and a stranger, 
till their consciences smote them for their former cruelty to 
him, Gen. xliii. 7, 19, 21. 

85 Q. Did he then revenge himself upon them? 

A. No, but he made himself known to them with much 
affection and tenderness, Gen. xlv. 

86 Q. How did he manifest his forgiveness of them? 

A. He sent for his father, and bid his brethren bring all 
their families into Egypt, and he maintained them all during 
the famine, Gen. xlv. 4, 7. 

87 Q. Did Jacob die in Egypt? 

A. Yes : but according to his desire his body was carried 
up to the land of Canaan, and was buried there in the faith 
of the promise, that his seed should possess that land, Gen. 
xlix. 29, and 1. 13. 

88 Q. What became of the families of Israel after Jo- 
seph's death ? 

A. They were made slaves in Egypt, and a new king, 
who kneio not Joseph, sorely oppressed them, and endea- 
voured to destroy them, Exod. i. 13, 14, 16, 22. 

89 Q. Did Joseph as well as his father, profess any hope 
of his family and kindred returning from Egypt in the fol- 
lowing times ? 

A. Yes, he died in faith of the promise made to his fa- 
thers, that they should go and possess the land of Canaan ; 
and therefore he required them when they went, to carry 
up his bones and bury them in the promised land, Gen. 1. 
24,25. 



THE DELIVERANCE, &c. 31 



CHAPTER III. 

The Deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, and of 
Moses and Aaron. 

1 Q. Who delivered the Israelites from the slavery of, 
Egypt? 

A. God heard their cry, and delivered them by the hand 
of Moses, and Aaron, Exod. iii. 9, 10, and xii. 31. Josh. xxiv. 
5, 6. 

2 Q. Who was Moses 7 

A. He was one of the family of Levi among the people 
of Israel, who was wonderfully saved from drowning when 
he was an infant, Exod. ii. 10. 

3 Q. How was he in danger of drowning? 

A. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had commanded every 
male child to be drowned ; and when Moses's parents could 
hide him no longer, they laid him by the bank of the river 
in an ark or box of bulrushes, Exod. i. 22, and ii. 3. 

4 Q. How was he saved 1 

A. The king of Egypt's daughter found him by the river, 
and pitied the child, and brought him up for her own son, 
Exod. ii. 5, 6,9. 

5 Q. Did he continue a courtier in Egypt? € 

A. No, for when he was grown a man he showed pity to 
his kindred in their slavery, and slew an Egyptian ; which 
being known, he fled from the court of Pharaoh, Exod. ii. 
11—14. 

6 Q. Whither did he fly? 

A. To the land of Midian, where he kept the sheep of 
Jethro, a priest, a prince of the country, and married his 
daughter Zipporah, Exod. ii. 14, and iii. 1. 

7 Q. How did God appoint him to deliver Israel 1 

A. God appeared to him in a burning bush, as he was 
keeping Jethro's sheep, and sent him to Pharoah, to require 
the release of Israel his people, Exod. iii. 1 — 18. 

8 Q. What was his office afterwards ! 

A. God made him the leader and lawgiver of the people 
of Israel, Exod. xxxii. 34. Deut. xxxiii. 4, 5. John i. 17. 

9 Q. Who was Aaron ? 



32 THE DELIVERANCE OF THE 

A. He was brother to Moses, and he was sent of God to 
meet him as he was returning to Egypt, and appointed to 
assist him in his dealing with Pharaoh the king, Exod. iv. 
14, 27. 

10 Q. What was Aaron's office afterwards ? . 

A. He was made the first high priest of Israel, Exod, 
xxviii. 1. Heb. v. 1, 4. 

11 Q. How did Moses and Aaron prove to Pharaoh, and 
to the people, that God had sent them upon this errand 1 

A. They had, power given them from God himself to work 
several miracles, or signs and wonders, to convince the peo- 
ple of Israel, as well as Pharaoh, that they had a commission 
from God, Exod. iv. 1 — 10. 

12 Q. What was the first miracle 1 

A. Aaron cast down his rod, and it became a serpent ; and 
when Pharaoh's conjurors did so too, Aaron's rod swallowed 
all their's up, Exod. vii. 9, 12. 

13. Q. What did Moses and Aaron do further to deliver 
that people 1 

A. Upon Pharaoh's refusal to let the people of Israel go, 
they brought ten miraculous plagues upon the king, and 
upon all the land, by the authority and power of God, Exod. 
vii, viii, ix, x, xi, and xiv. 10, &c. Psal. cv. 26, &c. 

14 Q. What were these ten plagues ] 

A. (1.) Water turned into blood. (2.) Frogs. (3.) Lice. 
(4.) Flies. (5.) Murrain among cattle. (6.) Boils and blis- 
ters on man and beast. (7.) Thunder, lightning, and hail. 
(8.) Locusts. (9.) Thick darkness. (10.) The first-born slain. 

15 Q. Were Pharaoh and his people willing to release 
the Israelites at last ? 

A. Yes : when they saw they were like to be destroyed, 
for there was not a house wherein there was not one dead : 
then they hastened them out, and lent them jewels and gold 
to adorn their sacrifices and worship, Exod. xii. 29 — 36.* 

16 Q. How great was the number of the Israelites that 
went out of Egypt I 

A. Six hundred thousand men, besides children, and all 
went on foot, Exod. xii. 37. 

17 Q. Which way did the Israelites bend their journey 1 

* The Egyptians kept the Israelites many years at hard labour, with- 
out compensation ; and the only way they could get their due was to 
retain the property of the Egyptians; — which they did. 



ISRAELITES FROM EGYPT. 33 

A. Towards the wilderness of the Red sea, as they were 
guided by God himself marching before them in a pillar of 
cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, Exod. xiii. 
18, 21. 

18 Q. But did not Pharaoh and his army pursue them 
after they were gone 1 

A. Yes, they repented that they let them go, and pursued 
them to the Red sea, resolving to destroy them, Exod. xiv. 5, 
and xv. 9. 

19 Q. How did the people of Israel, who came out of 
Egypt get over the Red sea 3 

A. When they were in distress, with the Red sea before 
them, and Pharaoh's army behind them, they cried unto God, 
whereon Moses bid them stand still, and see the salvation of 
the Lord. Then, at the command of God, Moses struck the 
sea with his rod, and divided the waters asunder, and the 
children of Israel went through upon dry land, Exod. xiv. 
10, 16, 21, 29. 

20 Q. What became of the Egyptians that followed 
them] 

A. God troubled their army, retarded their march, and 
when Moses stretched out his hand over the sea again, the 
waters returned upon them, and they were drowned, Exod, 
xiv. 28. 

21 Q. Whither did the children of Israel go then? 

A. They went wheresoever God guided them by the pillar 
of cloud, and the pillar of fire, and they moved and they 
rested, according to the rest or the motion of this cloud, Exod. 
xiii. 21. Numb. x. 33, 34. 

22 Q. How did the people of Israel, who had seen all 
these wonders, behave themselves in their travels 1 

A. At every new difficulty, when they wanted meat or 
water, or met with enemies, they fell a murmuring against 
God and Moses, Exod. xv. 23, 24, and xvi. 2, 3. 

23 Q. How long was it before they came to the place that 
God promised them ? 

A. They wandered forty years in the wilderness for their 
sins, Numb. xiv. 32, 33. See Psal. Ixxviii. 

24 Q. What did they eat all the time? 

A. God fed them with manna, or bread that came down 
every night from heaven, and lay all round the camp, Exod. 
xvi. 4, 15, 35. Deut. viii. 3. 



34 THE DELIVERANCE, &c. 

25 Q. What did they drink in the wilderness 1 

A. Moses smote the rock with his rod, and water gushed 
out in a river, which attended them in their journeys, Exod. 
xvii. 5, 6. 1 Cor. x. 4. Num. xx. 11. Nehem. ix. 15. 

26 Q. What did they do for clothes during these forty 
years 1 

A. Their raiment waxed not old, nor did their shoes wear 
out, Deut. xxix. 5. 

27 Q. Did Moses govern all the people himself? 

A. By his father-in-law Jethro's advice, and by God's ap- 
probation, he appointed officers and judges over the people 
for common cases, but every harder cause was brought to 
Moses, Exod. xviii. 

28 Q. You told me that Moses was a lawgiver to the 
Jews or people of Israel, pray how came he by those wise 
and holy laws which he gave them] 

A. He conversed with God fourscore days and nights in 
mount Sinai, and there he learnt them, Exod. xxiv. 12 — 18. 
Deut. ix. 9—18. 

Note. The people of Israel were not called Jews, till after their re- 
turn from the captivity of Babylon, the chief part of those who returned 
being of the tribe of Judah; yet in all later histories, the Israelites are 
so universally called Jews, that I have sometimes used this name even 
in the earlier part of their history. It is plain that Moses was twice 
with God on mount Sinai, and that forty days at each time, for Moses 
coming down, and finding the idolatry of the golden calf, broke the 
tables of the law which God wrote first, and God called him up the 
second time, and wrote the law on new tables. See Exod. xxxiv. 
1—5, 28. 

29 Q. What token was there that Moses had been with 
God! 

A. The face of Moses shone so, that the people could not 
converse with him till he put a veil on his face, Exod. xxxiv. 
29—35. 

30 Q. What sort of laws were those which Moses gave 
the Jews ! 

A. Moral laws, ceremonial laws, and judicial laws, and 
all by God's own appointment, Exod. xxiv. 12. Isa. xxxiii. 11. 

31 Q. What was the religion of the Jews, or Israelites ? 
A. The same with the religion of Adam after his fall, of 

Noah and Abraham, with the additions given by Moses. 
See Chap. ii. Q. 50. 



OF THE MORAL LAW. 35 

Note. This is called the Jewish, or Mosaical, or Levitical Dis- 
pensation ; and herein God may be considered under three characters : 

1. As the universal creator of all men, and as the Lord God and 
ruler of the souls and consciences of all ; and of the Jews, as a part of 
mankind : And under this character he required of the Jews, all the 
duties of the light of nature, or the moral law, which obliged all man- 
kind, as well as them, and that under every dispensation. 

2. He may be considered as the God of Israel, or the Jews, as a 
Church outward and visible ; whom he had separated from the rest of 
the nations to be a peculiar people to himself; and so he prescribed to 
them peculiar forms of worship, and special ceremonies and rites of 
religion, as tokens of their duty and his grace. 

3. He may be considered as the proper king of the Israelites, as a 
nation, and as they were his subjects ; and so he gave them judicial 
and political laws, which relate to their government, and the common 
affairs of civil life. — But these three sorts of laws are not kept so entirely 
distinct as not to be intermingled with each other. It is all indeed but 
one body -of laws, and given properly to that one people under differ- 
ent circumstances. And on this account it is sometimes hard to say, 
under which head some of these commands of God must be reduced. 
Some commands relating to'their houses and garments, their plowing 
and sowing, and the prohibition of particular sorts of food, are naturally 
ranked under their political laws : And yet there is something ceremo- 
nial or religious designed or included in them. Again, that which we 
call the moral law, or the ten commands, is for the most part the law 
of nature, but it has something of a positive institution, ceremonial or 
ritual, in it. This is very plain in the fourth command, of the seventh 
day sabbath : but in this history it was not proper to enter into too nice 
inquiries on this subject. The three branches of this distinction of 
the Jewish laws in the main are evident enough, though they happen 
to be intermingled in some instances. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Of the Moral Law. 

1 Q. Which was the moral law given to the Jews ? 

A. All those commands which relate to their behaviour, 
considered as men, and which lie scattered up and down in 
the books of Moses ; but they are as it were reduced into a 
small compass in the ten commandments. 

2 Q. How were these ten commandments first given 
them] 

A. By the voice of God on mount Sinai, three months 
after their coming out of Egypt ; and it was attended with 



36 OF THE MORAL LAW. 

thunder, and fire, and smoke, and the sound of a trumpet, 
Exod. xix. 18, 19, and xx. 1, 18. 

3 Q. Where was this moral law more especially written 1 
A. On the two tables of stone which God wrote with his 

own hand, and gave to Moses, Exod. xxiv. 12 ; chap, xxxii. 
15, 16, and xxxiv. 1. 

4 Q. What did the first table contain ? 

A. Their duty towards God in the first four command- 
ments. See Exod. xx. 3—11. Deut. v. 22. 

5 Q. What are these first four commandments'? 
A. I. " Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." 

II. " Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, 
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that 
is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the 
earth : Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve 
them ; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the 
iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third 
and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing 
mercy unto thousands of "them that love me, and keep my 
commandments." 

III. " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God 
in vain : for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh 
his name in vain." 

IV. " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six 
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh 
day is the Sabbath-day of the Lord thy God : In it thou shalt 
not do any work ; thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor 
thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates ; for in 
six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all 
that in them is, and rested the seventh day : wherefore the 
Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it." 

* 6 Q. Is God's resting from his works of creation the 
seventh day, the only reason why the Jews were required 
to keep the Sabbath or day of rest] 

A. This latter part of the fourth commandment, namely, 
the reason of the Sabbath, taken from the creation, and God's 
resting on the seventh day, is entirely omitted in the 
rehearsal of the ten commands in the fifth of Deuteronomy : 
And instead of it the Jews are required to observe this com- 
mand of the Sabbath or holy rest, for another reason, namely, 
because they were slaves in Egypt, and God gave them a 
release and rest from their slavery, Deut. v. 15. Though it 



OF THE MORAL LAW. 37 

is possible both reasons of this command might be pro- 
nounced from mount Sinai, and only that mentioned in 
Exodus be written on the tables of stone. 

7 Q. What did the second table contain] 

A. Their duty towards man in the six last commandments, 
Exod. xx. 12—17. Deut. v. 22. 

8 Q. What are these last six commandments] 

A. V. " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days 
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth 
thee." 

VI. "Thou shalt not kill." 

VII. " Thou shalt not commit adultery." 

VIII. " Thou shalt not steal." 

IX. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbour." 

X. " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house ; thou 
shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife ; nor his man-servant, 
nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing 
that is thy neighbour's." 

9 Q. Were these ten commands given to the Jews only, 
or are they given to all mankind ? 

A. Almost every thing contained in these commands is 
taught by the light of nature, and obliges all mankind ; the 
honour that is done them in the New Testament intimates 
this also. But there are several expressions in these laws 
by which it plainly appears they were peculiarly appropri- 
ated and suited to the Jewish nation in their awful procla- 
mation at mount Sinai. 

10. Q,. Wherein (foes it appear so plainly that these laws, 
as given at mount Sinai, have a peculiar respect to the 
Jews] 

. A. This is evident in the preface, where God engages 
their attention and obedience, by telling them, that he was 
the Lord their God, ivho brought them out of the land of 
Egypt. This appears also in the fourth command, where 
the seventh day is the appointed Sabbath for the Jews ; and 
in Deut. v. 15, God gives this reason for the Sabbath, that 
he brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. It is 
yet further manifest in the fifth commandment, where the 
promise, of long life in the land, literally refers to the land 
of Canaan, which God gave to that people. That thy days 
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth 
D 



38 OF THE CEREMONIAL LAW. 

thee. Yet, as is before intimated, the citation of them by 
the apostles in the New Testament, as rules of our duty, 
doth plainly enforce the observation of them so far on the 
consciences of Christians. 



CHAPTER V. 
Of the Ceremonial Law of the Jews. 

1 Q. What was the Ceremonial Law ! 

A. All those commands which seem to have some religious 
design in them, especially such as related to their cleans- 
iugs from any defilement, and their peculiar forms of wor- 
ship. 

Note. I have hinted before, that several of the political laws 
which were given to the Jews by God as their king, have some- 
thing ceremonial in them ; and they were designed to be emblems, 
types, or figures of some spiritual parts Of rclHon. There were also 
part of their ceremonies of purification, and their rights of religious 
worship, which have a political aspect, and were prescribed by God 
as king of their nation. But I choose to range all their purifying rites, 
and their rules of worship rather under this head of the Ceremonial 
or Religious laws, because their forms of purification do more plainly 
and eminently typify or represent to us, how much care the people of 
God should take to be separated and purified from every sin, and from 
the communion of sinners : and the Jewish rites of worship represent 
to us, by way of type or emblem, thai spiritual and evangelical wor- 
ship which should be paid to God, especially under the New Testa- 
ment, as the Lord of souls and consciences; as well as those bless- 
ings of tho gospel which are brought in by Christ and the Holy 
Spirit. 

Sect. I. Of the Ceremonies of Purification. 

2 Q. What were the chief rites or ceremonies appointed 
for purification or cleansing among the Jews ? 

A. Washing with water, sprinkling with water or blood, 
anointing with holy oil, shaving the head of man or woman, 
together with various sorts of sacrifices, and some other ap- 
pointments, Heb. ix. 10, 13, 19. Lev. xv. xvi. and xiii. 33. 
Numb. vi. 19. Exod. xl. 9. 



THE CEREMONIES OF PURIFICATION. 39 

3 Q. What were those things or persons among the 
Jews which were required to be purified ! 

A. All persons, houses, or buildings, garments, or other 
things which were set apart for the service of God; and all 
such as had been defiled by leprosy, by touching human 
dead bodies, or the carcase of any unclean animal, or by 
other ceremonial pollutions. See Leviticus xi. xii. xiii. xiv. 
and xv. Exod. xl. 9 — 15. Numb. viii. 0, and chap. xix. 9, 
&c. 

4 Q. How were the persons or things of the Gentiles to 
be purified for the use of the Israelites? 

A. The things which could endure the fire were to pass 
through the fire; other things were to be washed with 
water, Numb. xxxi. 20 — 24. And the maidens were to 
have their heads shaven, and their nails pared, before an Is- 
raelite could take any of them for a wife, Deut. xxi. 12. 

5 Q. Were there not some things which could not be 
purified at all by any ceremonies ! 

A. All the several nations of Canaanites and the males 
among other Gentile captives in war, who had refused the 
offer of peace, were judged so unclean and polluted, that 
they were all to be destroyed, Deut. vii. 1 — 4. Josh. vi. 21, 
clr vii. 26, and x. 28, 30, 82, 40, &c. Deut. xx. 13—17. 
And the houses and garments of the Israelites, where the 
leprous spots could not be taken away, were to be destroyed 
also, Lev. xiii. 57, and ch, xiv. 45. and those Israelites in 
whom the leprosy prevailed, were to be shut out of the 
camp as unclean, Lev. xiii. 45, 46. 

6 Q. Were there any crimes of real immorality or im- 
piety which could he taken away by any of these outward 
ceremonies of purification 1 

A. The mere outward performance of any of these cere- 
monies did purify the persons defiled no further, than to 
set them right in their political state, as subjects under God 
as their king; and to cleanse them, as members of the Jew- 
ish visible church, from ceremonial defilement, Heb. ix. 13. 
The blood of bulls and of goals, and the ashes of an heifer, 
sprinkling the. unclean, sanctijieth no further than to the 
purifying of the flesh. But Heb. x. 4. It is not possible 
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins ; 
that is, as they are committed against God as the Lord of 
their souls and consciences. 



40 THE CEREMONIES OF PURIFICATION. 

7 Q. How then were the sins of the Jews cleansed or 
pardoned. I mean their real immoralities and impieties 
against God, as the Lord of conscience ] 

A. They obtained pardon of God according to the disco- 
very of grace and forgiveness scattered up and down through 
all the five books of Moses, and especially according to the 
promises made, and the encouragements given to Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, and in general to all those who sincerely 
repent of sin, and trust in the mercy of God, so far as it was 
then revealed, and to be further revealed in time to come ; 
Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. Deut. iv. 29—31. Isa. lv. 7, &c. But this 
forgiveness is owing to the effectual atonement of Christ, 
which was to be made in due time, and which took away 
sins past as well as to come, Rom. iii. 21, 24, 25, 26. 

8 Q. Did these outward rites of purification then do no- 
thing towards the removal of their moral defilements of 
sin? 

A. As their outward or ceremonial defilements were ap- 
pointed to be emblems and figures of the spiritual or moral 
defilement of the soul by sin, so many of these ceremonies 
of purification, and particularly those by water and blood, 
were pledges and tokens to assure them that God would 
forgive sin; and they were also figures and emblems of 
the removal of moral defilement of sin from the souls of 
men, by the atoning blood of Christ, and by the sanctifying 
spirit of God, which is represented under the figure of clean 
water. See Heb. ix. and x. 

Note. The following question perhaps might come in properly 
after the account of sacrifices; but having here inquired whether the 
ceremonies of purification did any thing towards the removal of the 
moral defilement of sin, I thought it as proper to introduce it here, as 
a kind of objection against the foregoing answers. 

9 Q. But were there not some Jewish sacrifices and 
methods of purification and atonement, appointed for some 
real immoralities and wickedness, as when a man had com- 
mitted a trespass against the Lord, by lying to his neigh- 
bour, by cheating or robbing him, or by swearing falsely, 
when he had found any thing that was lost and withheld it 
from the owner! Lev. vi. 1 — 7. Is it not said, He shall 
bring his trespass-offering to the Lord, and the priest shall 
make an atonement for him before the Lord, and it shall be 
forgiven him ? 



OP THE HOLY PERSONS. 41 

A. This trespass-offMng would reitbre him to bii stand- 
ing in the visible church, and would set him right in the 
Bight of God, a« king of the nation, nguinsl whose political 
laws the niMii had committed this trespass; but it never was 
designed to free him from the guilt of this sin in the light 
of God as ill** Lord of conscience, unless he repented of this 
•in in his heart, and trusted in the mercy of God so far as it. 
was revealed in that dayj for it is a certain truth, that the 

Hood of beasts cannot take awai/ sin, lleh. x. \. 

Sect. [I, Qfthe Holy Persons, 

K) Q. Having finished the rites of purification! let u| in- 
quire now what were the most remai kable thing! relating to 
then- forms of public worship ! 

A. These five, namely, Italy persons, and holy places, hah/ 
things, hah/ times, and holy actions. 

11 Q. What mean you by calling all these holy) 

A. I mean such persons, such places, such things, and 

SUCh 1 1 mes and actions, .in were devoted to God and his wor- 
ship, or appointed tin his special service, Nuiiih. XVi. 5. Lev. 

\\i. 8| '"^ xxii, ir>. 

iv> Q, Who might he called the holy persons^ anion/-; the 
Jews or Israelites ' 

A. The priests, and the iMa/a riles, and all Hie Levites, 

Le\. mx. I, (». Num. vi. 2, 8 f 'ind vui. id. though sometimes 
the whole nation ard called holy, lOxod. xix. 0. 

['.\ Q. Who were appointed to lie pi lists / 

A. First, Aaron him Be If, and then the eldest of Aaron's 

family were appointed to be the high priests in succession; 

and the rest of his, .sons and their posterity were priests, pro- 
vided they had no blemish m their hodies, Le\. wi. '.K, and 

\ i. 17. iv\o I. xxix. 80. Numb, iii. ;*, 4, L0, :t>, chap. »v. hi, 
chap. \\ i. 40, and xx. 25, 20. 

II Q. I low Were they (M ade priests'! 

a. They were solemnly separated at first to the priest's 
office, by anointings, and purifications, and sacrifices, Lev. 
\ in. 

L5 Q. What was the business of the priests! 

A. Their chief business was to offer saci ificestothe Lord, 
to burn incense before him in the holy place, to kindle the 
lamps, to do the higher services of the sanctuary, and to in- 

d2 



42 OF THE HOLY PERSONS. 

struct the people, Lev. i. 5, 7, 8, and chap. ii. 2. Numb. xvi. 
40, and Exod. xxx. 7. 

16 Q. What was the office of the high priest ? 

A. He was appointed to come nearer to God, even to enter 
into the most holy place, to do special services on the yearly 
day of atonement, to oversee all the public worship, and to 
judge among them in many civil matters, as well as religious, 
Acts xxiii. 4, 5. Lev. xvi. Numb. iii. 4, 6. Deut. xvii. 

17 Q. Was there any work which the priests performed 
in common with the high priests 1 

A. All the priests were to teach the people their duty, to 
assist in judging of civil and religious matters, and bless the 
people in the name of the Lord, Deut. xvii. 8- — 13, and xxi. 
5. Numb. vi. 23. Mai. ii. 7. 

Note. The priests were appointed to give the sense of the law in 
civil as well as religious concerns ; because the same God, who was 
the object of their worship, was also king of their nation. 

18 Q. Who were the Nazarites ? 

A. Men or women of any tribe who separated or devoted 
themselves to the Lord for a time by a particular vow, 
Numb. vi. 

19 Q. What were the rules of a Nazarite's vow or sepa- 
ration? 

A. He was to drink no wine nor strong liquor, to come at 
no dead body, nor to suffer any razor to come upon his head, 
but let'his hair grow all the time, unless he fell under some 
ceremonial defilement, Numb. vi. 5, 6, 9, &c. 

20 Q. How was his vow to be finished or ended 1 

A. By shaving his head at the door of the tabernacle, 
offering a sacrifice and burning his hair in the fire of it, 
Numb. vi. 13, 18. 

21 Q. Who were the Levites ? 

A. All the tribe or family of Levi, for they were taken 
into the service of God instead of the first-born of all the 
tribes of Israel, whom God claimed as his own, Numb. iii. 
40, and viii. 13, 19. 

22 Q. Why did God claim all the first-born of Israel? 

A. Because he saved them from the destroying angel. 
when he smote all the first-born of Egypt, Numb. viii. 
14—18. 

23 Q. What was the business of the Levites ? 

A. To wait on the priests in their office, and to do the 



OF THE HOLY PLACES, &c. 43 

lower services of the sanctuary or holy place, Numb. viii. 19, 
and chap. iii. 4, 6. 

24 Q. How were the Levites separated to the service of 
the sanctuaries ? 

A. By sprinkling water of purification on them, shaving 
their flesh, washing their garments, and the people laying 
their hands on them, as well as by several sacrifices, Numb, 
viii. 5—19. 

Sect. III. — Of the Holy Places, particularly the Tabernacle. 

25 Q. Next to the holy persons let us inquire what were 
the holy places ? 

A. The tabernacle in the days of Moses, and the temple 
in the days of Solomon, each of which is sometimes called 
the sanctuary, Exod. xxv. 8. 1 Chron. xxii. 19. 

26 Q. What was the tabernacle ? 

A. It was a sort of moveable building made of pillars and 
boards, set in sockets of silver, and fine linen curtains em- 
broidered with cherubs, and coupled with loops and tacks of 
gold, that the whole might be taken to pieces, and carried 
with them in their journies. See Exod. xxvi. 

Note. When Moses had received full orders for making this taber- 
nacle, he came down from mount Sinai, and found the people had 
been guilty of idolatry in making a golden calf. Then it is said he 
took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, and afar from 
the camp, and called it the tabernacle of the congregation. And 
every one that sought the Lord went out to this tabernacle. This is 
supposed to be a little occasional tabernacle, made like a small chapel, 
for present worship ; for God resided there at the door of it in a cloudy 
pillar ; and Moses went into this tabernacle, and talked with God 
there, Exod. xxxiii. 6, 7, &c. But when the great tabernacle was 
finished according to God's appointment, it stood not without the camp, 
as appears in the following question. 

27 Q. Where did the tabernacle stand when it was reared 
up] 

A. It stood within a large space of ground which was 
called the court of the tabernacle, one hundred cubits long, 
and fifty cubits broad, Exod. xxvii. 9 — 18; and all the tribes 
pitched their tents round about it, Numb. ii. 

28 Q. How was the court of the tabernacle inclosed 1 

A. It was inclosed by a row of pillars on each side, with 
curtains reaching from pillar to pillar, Exod. xxvii. 9 — 18, 
and chap. xl. 33. 



44 OF THE HOLI THINGS, NAMELY, 

29 Q. How was the tabernacle covered 1 

A. With four vails or curtains; one of fine linen, one of 
goats' hair, the third was made of the skins of rams dyed red, 
and the fourth or outermost of badger-skins, to endure the 
weather, Exod. xxvi. 1 — 14. 

30 Q. Into what rooms was the tabernacle divided 1 

A. Into the holy place where the priests entered to mi- 
nister daily, and the most holy place, where none but the high 
priest entered, and that but once a year, Heb. ix. 6, 7 

31 Q. How was the holy place divided from the most holy ? 
A. By a curtain or vail of fine linen of various colours 

embroidered with cherubs, and hung on four .pillars overlaid 
with gold, Exod. xxvi. 31, 32, 34. 

32 Q. What was the temple ? 

A. A most glorious building of stone and timber, raised 
near five hundred years afterward by king Solomon, instead 
of this moveable tabernacle v 1 Chron. xvii. 5, 11, 12. 1 Kings 
vi. 1, 2. 

33 Q. But besides these holy places (namely, the taber- 
nacle and the temple) was not Jerusalem called the holy city ? 

A. Yes, because God appointed the tabernacle in David's 
time to be removed to mount Zion, and because the temple 
was built by Solomon on mount Moriah, both which are in- 
cluded within the city of Jerusalem, Neh. xi. 1. 2 Chron. 
iii. 1, and 1 Kings viii. 1. 

Sect. IV. — Of the Holy Things, namely. Altars, Gar- 
ments, Sacrifices, <fyc. 

34 Q. What were the holy things ? 

A. There was a great number of holy things made of 
gold and silver, brass and wood, and fine linen, and other 
materials both dry and liquid, which were used in the Jew- 
ish worship. 

35 Q. What were the chief or most considerable of these 
holy things'? 

A. The ark of the covenant, and the mercy-seat, the altar 
of incense, the table and the candlestick, the altar of burnt- 
offering and the laver, the priest's garments, the sacrifices, 
the purifying water, the holy oil and holy perfume, together 
with vessels or instruments relating to all or any of these 
Exod. xxxi. 7—11. 



ALTARS, GARMENTS, SACRIFICES, &c. 45 

36 Q. What was the ark? 

A. It was a chest or coffer made of wood, and overlaid 
with gold, wherein the two tables of the law were kept, of 
God's own writing, with some other precious things which 
were afterwards laid up there, Exod. xxv. 10 — 16. Deut. x. 
1—5. Heb. ix. 4, 5. 

Note. The rod of Aaron, which blossomed and yielded almonds, 
and the pot of manna, which the Israelites lived upon in the wilder- 
ness, were both laid up in the ark for a perpetual memorial of those 
miraculous events, Exod. xvi. 33, 34. Numb. xvii. 10. Heb. ix. 4. 
Though some learned men rather suppose these were only placed be- 
fore the ark, and not in it. 

37 Q. What was the mercy-seat ? 

A. It was the covering of the ark, and it was made of 
pure gold, with a cherub of gold at each end of it, with 
their wings stretched out to cover the mercy-seat, and their 
faces towards each other, and toward the mercy-seat also, 
Exod. xxv. 17—21. 

Note. A cherub is used in scripture to denote some angelic power 
under the figure of some strange animal. It is described always like a 
living creature with wings, and probably with cloven feet too ; but 
whether it be rather in the shape of an ox, or a man, the learned are not 
agreed. Perhaps it was sometimes nearer to the one form, and some- 
times to the other. 

38 Q. Why was the covering of the ark called the mer- 
cy-seat? 

A. because God dwelt on it as the God of Israel, between 
the cherubs, in a body of light or a bright cloud, and ap- 
peared there as a God of mercy, accepting their sacrifices 
and their prayers, Exod. xxv. 22. Lev. xvi. 2. Numb. vii. 89. 
Psalm lxxx. 1. This light was called by the Jews the 
Shechinah or the habitation of God, and sometimes the 
Glory, Rom. ix. 4. 

39 Q. Where were the ark and the mercy-seat placed ? 
A. In the holy of holies within the vail, Exod. xxvi. 33, 

34. 

40 Q. What was the altar of incense ? 

A. An altar made of wood, covered with gold, with a 
crown or ledge of gold round about it, Exod. xxx. 

41 Q. What was done here ? 

A. Incense or perfume of sweet spices was burnt and of- 
fered upon it, every morning and evening, Exod. xxx. 7, 8. 

42 Q. What was the table ? 



46 OF THE HOLY THINGS, NAMELY, 

A. The table was made of wood, covered with gold, and 
had a golden crown or ledge round it, with golden dishes 
and spoons, Exod. xxv. 23, 30. 

43 Q. What was put on this table? 

A. Twelve cakes of bread were set there fresh every 
Sabbath, and it was called shew-bread, Lev. xxiv. 5. 

44 Q. What was the candlestick ? 

A. It was made of pure gold, like a pillar or shaft, with 
three branches on each side, and thus it would hold one lamp 
on the top, and six lamps on the branches, Exod. xxv. 31. 

45 Q. When were these lamps dressed 1 

A. Every morning and every evening they were dressed 
and supplied with pure oil, to burn always before the Lord, 
Exod. xxvii. 20, and xxx. 7, 8. 

46 Q. Where were the altar of incense, the table of she w- 
bread, and the candlestick placed 1 

A. In the holy place. 

47 Q. What was the altar of burnt-offering ? 

A. It was made of wood, and overlaid with brass, with 
shovels, and fire-pans, and basons, and other vessels belong- 
ing to it, Exod. xxvii. 1 — 5. 

48 Q. What was the use of it? 

A. All the burnt-offerings and sacrifices were offered upon 
it, Exod. xxxviii. 1. 

49 Q. What was one of the chief glories of it 1 

A. That the first sacrifice that was offered upon it was 
burnt by fire from heaven, and that fire was always kept 
burning there for holy uses, Lev. ix. 24, and chap. vi. 13. 

50 Q. What was the haver 7 

A. A vast vessel of brass, containing a large quantity of 
water, Exod. xxx. 18 — 21. 

51 Q. What was the design of it? 

A. For the priests to wash their hands and their feet 
when they went to do service in the tabernacle, Exod. xxx. 
18—21. 

52 Q. Where did the altar of burnt-offering and the laver 
stand ? 

A. In the court of the tabernacle, under the open sky, 
Exod. xl. 29, 30. 

53 Q. Having seen the holy things that belonged to the 
tabernacle, let us now inquire what were the priest's holy 
garments ? 



ALTARS, GARMENTS, SACRIFICES, &c. 47 

A. The common priests ha.d a vest called an ephod, and 
some peculiar garments of fine linen appointed them when 
they ministered in the tabernacle ; but the garments of the 
high priest were very peculiar, and exceeding rich and glo- 
rious, 1 Sam. xxii. 18. Exod. xxxix. 1, 27, 41. 

54 Q. What were the high priest's chief garments 1 

A. These six or seven, namely, the ephod, with the 
breast-plate and girdle of curious work, the robe of the ephod, 
the embroidered linen coat, and the mitre with a golden 
plate, Exod. xxviii. 4. 

Note. Here the common priests had such a linen coat and girdle, 
but not embroidered, and such a mitre of linen, but without a golden 
plate, Exod. xxviii. 40. 

55 Q. What was the ephod ? 

A. It was a sort of short vest without sleeves, to be worn 
above all the other garments ; it was made of fine linen, 
with blue, purple, and scarlet, interwoven with plates and 
wires of gold, Exod. xxxix. 2, 3. 

56 Q, What was the breast-plate ? 

A. It was made of the same work as the ephod of a span 
square, with twelve jewels set in gold, ranked in four rows, 
and fastened to the ephod, Exod. xxxix. 8, 9, 10. 

57 Q. What was engraven on those jewels ? 

A. The twelve names of the children of Israel, that the 
high priest might bear them on his breast as a memorial be- 
fore the Lord, Exod. xxviii. 32, and xxxix. 14. 

58 Q. What was the urim and thummim on the breast- 
plate 1 

A. It was something whereby the mind and will of God 
were made known to the high priest when he inquired in 
cases of difficulty, Exod. xxvii. 30. Numb, xxvii. 21. 

Note. On this ephod was the urim and thummim* in the breast- 
plate, which are sometimes called the Oracle, because the high priest 
by consulting this in any inquiry of importance found the mind of God, 
and told it to the inquirer. But we know not what this urim and 
thummim were, or by what signs or tokens, or in what maimer the 
mind of God was made known on or by this breast-plate to the priests, 
whether the answer was given by particular lustre on such letters on 
the breast-plate as spelled out as distinct words, or whether by a voice 
from the ephod, or from the mercy-seat, is not hitherto agreed by the 
learned, and their conjectures about it are very various and uncertain. 

»i * Two Hebrew words signifying lights and perfections. 



48 OF THE HOLY THINGS, NAMELY, 

59 Q. What was the girdle of ephod 1 

A. A curious linen girdle of embroidered work, to bind 
the ephod with other garments close to the body, Exod. 
xxviii. 8, and some suppose it to have been fastened to the 
ephod. 

60 Q. What was the robe of the ephod 1 

A. It was an upper garment, woven all of blue, with 
wrought pomegranate, and golden bells, hanging on the 
hem, to make a sound when the high priest went into the 
holy place, Exod. xxxix. 31, 33, &c. 

61 Q. What was the coat ? 

A. An under garment, closer to the body, made of linen, 
and finely embroidered, Exod. xxviii. 4, 39. 

62 Q. What was the mitre ? 

A. It was a cap of fine linen, with a plate of pure gold 
fastened on the fore part of it with a lace of blue, Exod. 
xxviii. xxxvi. and xxxix. 28, 30. 

63 Q. What was engraven on this plate ? 

A. Holiness to the Lord, because Aaron was to bear 
the iniquity of their holy things, that they might be accept- 
ed before the Lord, Exod. xxviii. 36 — 39, and xxxix. 28, 
30, 31. 

64 Q. Thus much for the holy garments : Now let us 
hear what are the sacrifices that were appointed, which 
were also numbered among the holy things 1 

A. All sacrifices were offerings made to God : some were 
of corn, or wine, or oil ; and others were offerings of living 
creatures; birds or beasts which were generally to be slain : 
but all sacrifices must be perfect in their kind, and without 
a blemish, Lev. xxii. 19, 20. 

Note. There is one single exception to this rule, Lev. xxii. 23, 
where a bullock or a lamb, which had no other blemish but some small 
natural imperfection or superfluity, might be offered in the case of a 
mere free-will offering, but in no other cases. The current language 
of scripture seems every where else so plainly to require sacrifices 
without a blemish, that some commentators think this text must be 
explained some other way. 

65 Q. Where were the sacrifices to be offered 1 

A. In no other place but at the door of the tabernacle, or 
the temple, Lev. xvii. 8, 9. Deut. xii. 14. 

66 Q. But do we not read of Gideon, and Samuel, and 
David, and Elijah, building altars, and offering sacrifices in 
other places ! 



ALTARS, GARMENTS, SACRIFICES, &c. 49 

A. This was not lawful to be done but by prophets and 
inspired men, or at God's express command. 

67 Q. How were the sacrifices offered to God 1 

A. In some sacrifices the whole was burnt on the altar ; 
in others a part was burnt, and other parts were given to the 
priests for their subsistence : and in some sacrifices the per- 
son who offered them was allowed to partake also. See the 
seven first chapters of Leviticus. 

68 Q. What was done with the blood of the living crea- 
tures who were sacrificed ? 

A. The blood was never to be eaten, but to be poured out 
or sprinkled, according to God's appointment ; for the blood 
is the soul or life of the beast, and it is blood that maketh 
atonement for the soul or life of man. See Lev. xvii. 

69 Q. What was the design of sacrifices of corn, wine, 
and oil ? ' 

A. These were called meat-offerings and drink-offerings, 
and they were appointed chiefly to give thanks to God for 
mercies received. 

70 Q. What was the design of killing and burning living 
creatures in sacrifices? 

A. Some might be designed perhaps by way of thanks- 
giving, but most of them were to make atonement for sins 
or trespasses against the law of the Jews, or to purify the 
unclean from some ceremonial defilement, Heb. ix. 7, 13, 22. 

71 Q. How could the killing and burning of living crea- 
tures make atonement for sin \ 

A. It is not possible (as St. Paul assures us) that the blood 
of bulls and goats should really take away sins committed 
against God, as the Lord of conscience : but when a man 
among the Jews had offended God, considered as king of the 
nation, by some civil trespass against the laws of the land, 
God was pleased to accept of the sufferings or death of the 
beast, instead of the death or suffering of the man : or if a 
person fell into some ceremonial defilement, he was to be 
purified by the blood of a beast. And this was an emblem, 
or token that the sin of man deserved death, and that God, 
considered as the Lord of conscience, would forgive sin, and 
would accept, in the room of the sinner, of the suffering and 
death of his son in due time, as a real atonement, of which 
the Jewish sacrifices were only types. See Heb. ix. and x. 
1 Pet. i. 19. and ii. 24. See Quest. 6, 7, 8, of this Chapter. 

E 



50 OF THE HOLY THINKS, namki,Y, 

72 Q. With what fire were the sacrifices burnt! 

A. With fire which came down at first from heaven on 
the altar, and it was kept always burning on the altar for 
sacred uses; that is, to light the Lamps, to burn incense, 
and to kindle Other (ires in their worship, Lev. ix. fc 24, and 

vi. L8. 

73 Q. Who were those? persons that dared to use other 
fire in worship than what God had appointed ' 

A. Nadal) and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, burnt incense 
with strange fire, Lev. x. 

74 Q,. What was their punishment 1 

A. There went out afire from the Lord, and devoured 
them, Lev. x. l, 2. 

75 Q. When were these various sacrifices to be offered ■' 

A. Daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, and on many 
special occasions, as (2od revealed to Moses. 

76 Q< What was the daily sacrifice? 

A. A young lamb every borning and every evening for 
a burnt-offering, together with a meat-offering and drink- 
offering, Numb, xxviii. 3, &c. 

77 Q, What was the design of it .' 

A. To keep the people in remembrance, that lor their 

daily sins they heeded Continual atonement and pardon, and 

that God rehired continual thanksgiving for Ms daily mercies. 

7N Q. What were the weekly, monthly, and yearly saeri 

flees 1 

A. Such as were required on the several holy times, or 

the festivals and lasts which G6d appointed. 

71) Q. What was that, special sacrifice which was offered 
to make the purifying water, called the water ofscjtaralionS 

A. A red heifer was to he slain and burnt without the 
camp, with her skin, fiesh, and blood, with cedar wood, 
hyssop, and scarlet ; and all the ashes were to be gathered, 
and laid up in a clean place without the camp, Numb. XIX. 

so q. llow was the water of separation to be madel 

A. Souk; of the ashes of the burnt heifer were to be put 

m b vessel, and to bo mingled with running water, Numb. 

xi\. 7. 

HI Q. What was the use of it! 

A. To purity persons, or things, or places, which were 
defiled by touening a human dead body, or the bones of a 
man, or a grave, ver. 11 — 10. 



ALTARS, GARMENTS, SACRIFICES, &c. 61 

82 Q. How must it be applied to the defiled thing or 
person, in order to cleanse them 1 

A. Some clean person must take hyssop and dip it in the 
water, and sprinkle it upon the tent and upon the persons 
and vessels that were unclean, ver. 18. Psalm li. 7. Heb. 
ix. 13. 

83 Q. After the water of purification, tell me now what 
was the holy anointing oil ? 

A. It was a kind of liquid ointment, compounded of 
myrrh, cinnamon, and other rich spices, with oil olive, by 
art of the apothecary, and there was none to be made like 
it on pain of death, Exod. xxx. 23 — 33. 

84 Q. What was the use of this holy oil ] 

A. All the vessels of the tabernacle were to be anointed 
with it, as well as Aaron the high priest and his sons, Exod. 
xxx. 26. 

85 Q. What was the incense or holy perfume ? 

A. It was a composition of sweet spices, with frank- 
incense ; nor was any to be made like it on pain of death, 
Exod. xxx. 34—38. 

86 Q. What was the use of this incense or perfume 1 

A. Some of it was to be beat to powder, and laid before 
the ark in the most holy place before the Lord, Exod. xxx. 
36. And it was this incense of sweet spices which was 
burnt daily on the altar of incense. See Exod. xxx. 7, 8, 9, 
and xxxiv. 15, and xxxvii. 29. 

87 Q. What is the last sort of holy things relating to the 
Jewish worship] 

A. The instruments and vessels which were used to their 
sacrifices, and in any other part of their religion ; and they 
were made chiefly of gold, silver, brass, and wood. 

88 Q. What instruments were made of gold? 

A. The golden censer belonging to the most holy place ; 
the vessels belonging to the table of shew-bread, namely, 
the bowls, and dishes, and spoons, and covers, the vessels 
belonging to the candlesticks and lamps, namely, the snuf- 
fers and snuff-dishes, &c Heb. ix. 4. Exod. xxxvii. 16, 23. 

89 Q. What instruments were made of silver ? 

A. Besides the hooks and fillets of the pillars of the court, 
and the sockets of some of the pillars, and of all the boards 
of the tabernacle, which were of silver, Exod. xxvi. 19, &c. 
and xxvii. 10, &c. there were chargers and bowls of sil- 



52 OF THE HOLY TIMES, 

ver, offered by the princes for the use of the sanctuary, 
Numb. vii. 13, and trumpets of silver, Numb. x. 2. 

90 Q. What were the instruments of brass ? 

A. Those which belonged to the altars of burnt-offerings, 
namely, the pots, shovels, basons, and flesh-hooks, and fire- 
pans, besides the brazen grate of net-work, Exod. xxxviii. 
3, 4. Also the common censers for incense were supposed 
to be vessels of brass fit to hold fire, Numb. xvi. 17, 37. 

91 Q. What were the instruments of wood ? 

A. The staves fixed to the golden rings to bear both the 
ark, the incense altar, and the golden table, were all made 
of shittim wood, and overlaid with gold, Exod. xxxvii. 4, 
15, 28, but the staves to bear the altar of burnt-offering 
were overlaid with brass, Exod. xxxviii. 6. 

Sect. V. — Of the Holy Times and Holy Actions. 

92 Q. Having surveyed the holy things of the Jews, let 
us inquire what were the chief of the holy times or days 
appointed to them ] 

A. The weekly sabbaths, the new moons, the feast of the 
passover, the feast of pentecost, the feast of trumpets, the 
great day of atonement, and the feast of tabernacles. See 
most or all these holy times prescribed in Lev. xxiii ; and the 
several sacrifices belonging to them, in Numb, xxviii. x-xix. 

93 Q. What was the weekly sabbath ? 

A. The seventh day of every week was a day of holy rest 
from all the common labours of life, and a day of assembling 
for worship, which is called an holy convocation, Exod. xx. 
8,10. Lev. xxiii. 2, 3. 

94 Q. What special public service was done on this day? 
A. The daily sacrifice was doubled, Numb, xxxviii. 9 ; and 

it is very probable, that some portions of the law were to 
be read, and perhaps expounded, chiefly by the priests and 
Levites, as was practised afterwards in the synagogues, 
Acts xv. 21 ; and perhaps also this might be done, at least 
in the following times, on all days of holy convocation. 

95 Q. Why was this clay sanctified or made holy 1 

A. Partly from God's resting from the work of creation 
on the seventh day, and partly in remembrance of the Is- 
raelites' deliverance and rest from their slavish labours in 
Egypt, Exod. xx. ii. Deut. v. 15. 



AND HOLY ACTIONS, 53 

96 Q. What was the feast of the new-moons ? 

A. In the beginning of their months, which they reck- 
oned by new-moons, they were to blow the silver trumpets, 
and offer a special sacrifice, Numb. x. 10; xxviii. 11. 1 Sam. 
xx. 5. Psalm lxxxi. 3. 

97 Q. What was the feast of the passover ? 

A. It was kept for seven days in their first month, abib, 
by sacrificing a lamb, and eating it with bitter herbs,* in 
every family, in remembrance of God's passing over the 
families of Israel, when he slew the first-born in every 
house of the Egyptians, Exod. xii. 18, &c. 

Note. That the first month of the Jews, for all the common affairs 
of life, which are called civil affairs, was tisri, which in part answers 
to our September, and is the first month after the autumnal, equinox ; 
and it was always so to continue for civil affairs, as appears from 
Exod. xxiii. 16. chap. xxiv. 22, and Lev. xxv. 8, 10. But as to eccle- 
siastical or religious matters, the first month after the vernal equinox, 
called Abib, which answers partly to our March, was designed to be 
the beginning of the year to the Jews, in memory of their great de- 
liverance from Egypt. 

98 Q. In what manner was the feast of the passover 
kept? 

A. On the fourteenth day of the month they were to 
roast a lamb for supper, and to eat unleavened breadf that 
evening, and seven days after, Exod. xii. 3, 8, 19. Numb, 
xxviii. 16, 17. 

99 Q. Was there any particular worship performed on 
these seven days? 

A. Yes, there were special sacrifices every day, a sheaf of 
the first ripe corn, that is, barley, was now offered to God ; 
and on the first and last day there was an holy convocation or 
assembly for worship, Exod. xii. 16. Numb, xxviii. 16, &c. 
Lev. xxiii. 10. 

100 Q. What was the feast of pentecost? 

A. Fifty days, or seven weeks, after the first ripe corn 
(or barley) had been offered to God, there was a particular 

* The bitter herbs were perhaps a memorial of their hard bondage 
in Egypt, and a token of godly sorrow for sin, and that self-denial 
which should be practised by all the people of God. 

t Leaven is the scriptural emblem of hypocrisy, malice, and wick- 
edness; and hence the unleavened bread of the passover signified the 
sincerity, love, and purity with which it ought to be celebrated. 
e2 



54 OF THE HOLY TIMES, 

sacrifice, and an holy assembly, and two loaves of the first 
fruits of wheat were to be offered, Lev. xxiii. 15 — 21. 

Note. This was called the feast of weeks, Deut. xvi. 16, compared 
with Exod. xxiii. 16. It was a sheaf of barley that was offered at the 
passover, and two loaves of wheat at pentecost, both of them as first 
fruits. See Pool's Annotat. on Exod. xxiii. 16. 

101 Q. What was the reason of the feast of pentecost? 
A. It was kept as a thanksgiving for the beginning of 

wheat-harvest, Exod. xxiii. 16, and perhaps also in memory 
of the giving of the law at mount Sinai ; which was seven 
weeks, or fifty days after the passover, and their coming out 
of Egypt, Exod. xx. 1, 11. 

Note. They went out of Egypt the fourteenth day of the first 
month, Exod. xii. 17, 18. From thence to the beginning of the third 
month, is forty-six-or forty-seven days, when they come to the mount 
of Sinai, Exod. xx. 1, 2. Then they purified themselves three days, 
ver. 11, 16, and God gave the law the fiftieth day : And this feast was 
called pentecost, which in the Greek signifies the fiftieth. 

102 Q. What was the feast of trumpets 1 

A. The first day of the seventh month, blowing of trum- 
pets was appointed with peculiar sacrifices, and an holy 
assembly, Lev. xxiii. 24. Numb. xxix. 1, &c. 

103 Q. What are supposed to be the two chief designs 
of this feast of trumpets'? 

A. (1.) This seventh month having several holy days in 
it, it was a sort of sabbatical month, or month of sabbaths, 
and was to be begun with an extraordinary sound of trum- 
pets. (2.) This was counted the first month, and first day 
of the year for civil matters, as the other was for things re- 
ligious, and was to be proclaimed by sound of trumpet. See 
Pool's Annotat. on Lev. xiii. 24, and xxv. 9. 

Note. As the seventh day was the sabbath, or day of rest from 
labour, so the seventh month was a sort of sabbatical month ; the 
seventh year a sabbatical year, to let the land rest from tillage ; and 
at or after the seventh sabbatical year, that is, once in fifty years, there 
was a year of jubilee, or release and rest from servitude or bondage, 
Lev. xxv. 2, &c. 8, &c. 

104 Q. What was the great day of atonement ? 

A. The tenth day of the seventh month was appointed 
as a general day of public fasting and humiliation, repent- 
ance and atonement, for all the people, Lev. xiii. 27, and 
xvi. 29, and Numb. xxix. 

105 Q. What was to be done on that day } 



AND HOLY ACTIONS. 55 

A. This was the day when the High Priest, dressed in 
his richest garments, was to enter into the most holy place 
with the blood of a peculiar sacrifice, and sprinkle it upon 
the mercy-seat before the Lord, to make atonement for the 
sins of the whole nation, and to offer incense on the golden 
censer. (See several more ceremonies belonging to this day, 
Lev. xvi.) Let it be observed also, that in the year of Ju- 
bilee, on this great day of atonement the trumpet of jubilee 
was to be sounded through the land, to proclaim liberty to 
all the inhabitants, Lev. xxv. 8 — 10. 

106 Q. What was the feast of tabernacles ? 

A. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, at the end 
of all their harvest, they begun this feast, and dwelt seven 
days in booths made of the boughs of trees, Deut. xvi. 13. 

107 Q. What was the design of this ceremony] 

A. To keep in memory their dwelling in booths in the 
wilderness, when they went out of the land of Egypt, Lev. 
xxiii. 39 — 44. 

108 Q. How was this feast observed ? 

A. By peculiar sacrifices every day of the feast, and a 
holy assembly on the first day, and on the eighth day, 
Numb. xxix. 12. 

109 Q. At what hour did their sabbaths, and all their 
feasts begin and end 1 

A. The Jews counted their days, and particularly their 
holy days, from the evening at sun-set to the next evening, 
Gen. i. 5. Lev. xxiii. 5, 32. 

110 Q. At what place were the feasts to be kept? 

A. At the place which God should choose for* the resi- 
dence of the ark and tabernacle ; which was first at Shiloh, 
afterwards at Jerusalem ; though the blowing of trumpets 
to proclaim the beginning of the year was practised in all 
the cities of Israel. See Deut. xvi. 16, and Pool's Annotat. 
on Lev. xxiii. 24. 2 Kings xxi. 4. 

111 Q. How then could all Israel keep these feasts'? 

A. At the three chief feasts, namely, the passover, pente- 
cost, and the feast of tabernacles, all the males were to ap- 
pear before God in one place with some offering, Exod. xxiii. 
14—17. Deut. xvi. 16. 

112 Q. What was the offering they were to bring unto 
God, when they appeared before him at these solemn 
feasts 1 



56 THE USE OF THE 

*• • 
A. The tithe, or tenth part of their corn, wine, and oil, 
and the first-born of their cattle ; but they themselves were 
to partake in eating of it, Deut. xiv. 22, 23, though the bulk 
of it w T as to be given to the priests and Levites. See Chap. 
VI. Q. 15, 16. 

113 Q. Was it not dangerous for them to leave their own 
dwellings, in towns and villages which bordered on their 
enemy's country 1 

A. God promised them, that when they should go up to 
appear before him thrice in the year, no man should desire 
their land, Exod. xxxiv. 23, 24, which was a standing mira- 
cle during that dispensation. 

114 Q. Having heard this account of holy persons and 
places, things and times, let us now inquire what were the 
Holy Actions? 

A. All those actions may be called holy, which were ap- 
pointed to be a part of this ceremonial worship ; but the ac- 
tions relating to the natural worship of God, such as prayer 
and praise, are in themselves holy and religious. 

Sect. VI. The use of the Jeivish Ceremonies. 

115 Q,. What were the chief uses of all these ceremonial 
commands 1 

A. These three ; (1.) To distinguish the Jews from all 
other people, as a holy people, and God's peculiar visible 
church, who eminently bore up his name and honour in the 
world, Deut. vii. 6. (2.) To employ that people, who 
were so much given to idolatry, in many varieties of out- 
ward forms and rites of religion, lest they should be tempted 
to follow the superstition and idolatry of the nations round 
about them, Deut. vi. 1, 2, 14, 17. Deut. xxix. 1, 9—18. (3.) 
To represent by types, figures, and emblems, many of the 
offices of Christ, and the glories and blessings of his gospel. 
Heb. ix. 

116 Q. How doth it appear that any of these Jewish 
ceremonies are emblems or types of Christ and his gospel 1 

A. 1. This appears from many places in the New Testa- 
ment, where Jesus Christ and the blessings of the gospel 
are called by the same names. So Christ is called our 
high priest, Heb. iii. 1, and iv. 14. He is the lamb that 
was slain, Rev. v. 6. 1 Pet. i, 19, 20. Our passover, 1 Cor. 



JEWISH CEREMONIES, 57 

v. 7, and sacrifice to take away sin, Heb. ix. 26. The 
atonement or propitiation for sin, Rom. iii. 25. 1 John ii. 
2. His body is called the Temple, because God dwelt in it 
as in the Jewish temple, John ii. 19, 21. Col. ii. 9. 

2. This appears yet further from the evident and intend- 
ed resemblance which the Scripture represents between 
several of the Jewish ceremonies, and the things of the 
gospel. The blood of Christ obtained eternal redemption 
for us, as the blood of bulls and goats cleansed and freed 
the Jews from ceremonial defilements, Heb. ix. 12, &c. — 
His blood is called the blood of sprinkling, Heb. xii. 24, to 
sprinkle or cleanse us from a guilty conscience, as the 
sprinkling of the blood of the Jewish sacrifices purified 
the people, Heb. ix. 20, and chap. x. 22. The most holy 
place, where God dwelt of old in the mercy-seat, is the 
figure of the true heaven ; where God dwells on a throne 
of grace, Heb. xi. 8, 24, and iv. 16. The high priest's en- 
trance with the blood of the sacrifice, and with the names 
of the tribes on his breast, into the most holy place, to ap- 
pear before God, there for the Jews, is a plain figure of 
Christ's entrance into heaven with his own blood, to appear 
before God for us, Heb. ix. 12, 25. The Jewish incense 
was a type or figure of prayer, Rev. v. 8, and viii. 3. The 
Jewish Sabbath or day of rest, as well as the land of Ca- 
naan, was a type of the rest and release of believers from 
sin and guilt, and from an uneasy conscience, under the 
gospel, and the final rest of the saints in heaven, Heb. v. 3, 
4, 9, 10. 

This might be proved more at large by some other scrip- 
tures, where the Jewish rights in general are called figures 
or shadows of the good things of the gospel, Col. ii. 16, 17. 
Heb. viii. 5, and ix. 1—14, 23, 24. 

117 Q. Did the Jews themselves understand the spiritual 
meaning of these ceremonies ! 

A. Perhaps a few of them, who were more enlightened, 
might understand the meaning of some of the chiefest and 
most considerable types ; but the bulk of the people can 
hardly be supposed to have understood the spiritual mean- 
ing of them ; at least, the bible gives us no intimation of 
it. 

118 Q. How could they be appointed as types and figures 
of spiritual things, if the people who were required to use 



58 THE USE OF THE JEWISH CEREMONIES. 

them in their worship did not understand the spiritual mean- 
ing of them! 

A. 1. The Jewish dispensation was the childish or infant 
state of the church of God, as it is described, Gal. iv. 1, 2, 
3, &c. Now, children are sometimes employed in several 
things by their wiser parents, the chief design and meaning 
whereof they understand not till riper years. 

2. If these ceremonies were not understood by the an- 
cient Jews, to whom they were given, yet they might be 
designed as types and figures of Christ, and the blessings 
of the gospel, in order to confirm the religion of Christ and 
the gospel, when it should be afterward published to the 
world, by seeing how happily it answers these ancient 
types. 

119 Q. Wherein doth this appear! 

A. St. Paul doth actually confirm Christianity this way, 
especially in his epistle to the Hebrews, by showing how 
these ancient types and ceremonies are fulfilled in the Gos- 
pel of Christ. 

Note. — As a prophecy is the foretelling of things to come, in 
words, so a type is the foretelling of something to come, in some 
real emblem or figure, or resemblance of it; now as there are many 
ancient prophecies which were not understood by the persons who 
spoke them, 1 Pet. i. 11, 12, yet when they are fulfilled they come 
to be better understood, and bear witness to the hand of God, both 
in the prophecy and in the accomplishment. So though types may 
be obscure when they are first appointed, yet when they are accom- 
plished or fulfilled, they are better understood, and show the hand 
of God, both in appointing the sign, and bringing to pass the thing 
signified. 

120 Q. Can these things be said therefore to be fulfilled 
or accomplished in Christ, since the meaning of all these 
ceremonies or types is not yet known even to Christians 
themselves 7 

A. The New Testament has revealed to us, and taught 
us to understand the chief and most considerable, both of 
the types and prophecies ; but neither one nor the other are 
understood fully ; and yet we make no doubt but the prophe- 
cies are, or shall be accomplished in Christ, and why not the 
types also 1 Probably it is reserved as one part of the glory 
of that happy day when the Jews shall be converted, that 
the rest of their prophecies, as well as the rites and cere- 



LAWS OF THE JEWS 59 

monies of their ancient worship, together with their accom- 
plishment in Christ and the gospel, shall he more com- 
pletely understood.* 



CHAPTER VI. 
Of the Political or Judicial law of the Jews. 

1 Q. We have had a particular relation of the moral and 
ceremonial laws of the Jews : Say now what was their ju- 
dicial or political laws ? 

A. That which related to their civil government as a na- 
tion. 

2 Q. Who was their governor ? 

A. God himself condescended to take upon him the title 
of their king, and he appointed various kinds of governors 
under him, as he thought fit, Judges viii. 23. 1 Sam. xii. 12, 
13. Isa. xxxiii. 22. 

Note. Since the same person was both their God and their king, 
the tabernacle and the temple may be considered not only as the resi- 
dence of their God, but as the palace of their king also. The court 
of the tabernacle was the court of the palace ; the holy of holies was 
the presence chamber ; the mercy-seat was his throne ; the cherubs 
represented his attendants as God, and the priests were his ministers 
of state as king ; the high priest his prime minister ; the Levites were 
his officers, dispersed through all the kingdom ; the table of shew- 
bread, together with some part of the sacrifices which were given to 
the priest, did represent the provision of his household, &c. 

Whatsoever other governors were made from time to time, either 
captains, judges, or kings, they were but deputies to God, who put 
them in, and turned them out at pleasure.t 

3 Q. What did the political or civil laws, or commands 
oblige the people to 1 

A. To many particular practices, relating — 1. To war 
and peace. 2. To husbands and wives. 3. Parents and 
children. 4. Masters and servants. 5. Food and raiment 

* The church will hereafter be favoured with larger effusions of 
the Holy Spirit ; by whose enlightening and sanctifying influences, 
comparatively obscure places of scripture, — " things hard to be under- 
stood," will be greatly cleared up. 

t Hence the Jewish government is called a theocracy, i. e. a go- 
vernment of which the civil head was the Lord. 



60 OF THE POLITICAL, OR 

6. Houses and lands. 7. Corn and husbandry. 8. Money 
and cattle. 9. The birds and beasts. 10. The first-born 
of all things. 11. The maintenance of the Levites and 
priests. 12. The care of the bodies and lives of men. 

4 Q. What were some of the more peculiar laws about 
war and peace ? 

A. That they should make no peace with the seven na- 
tions of Canaan, but that they should destroy them utterly ; 
and that when they went to war, every soldier who was 
afraid might go home, Deut. vii. 1, 2, 3, and chap. xx. 8. 

5 Q. What were some of their peculiar laws about hus- 
bands and wives ? 

A. That a man should not serve in war within one year 
after taking a wife ; — -that he marry his brother's widow, if 
his brother died childless : and that men were permitted to 
put away their wives by a writing of divorce, Deut. xxv. 5; 
xxiv. 1. and that adultery was to be punished with death, 
Lev. xx. 10. Deut. xxiv. 5. 

6 Q. What were some of their special laws about parents 
and children ? 

A. The first-born son was to have a double portion ; and 
that any child who smote or cursed his father or his mother, 
or was obstinately rebellious and incorrigible, was to be put 
to death, Deut. xxi. 17, 18 — 21. Exod. xxi. 15, 17. 

7 Q. What are some of their special laws about masters 
and servants ? 

A. Any servant might go free, if his master had maimed 
him; and an lsraelitish servant, though he were bought 
with money, shall go out free for nothing in the seventh 
year ; and if he will not go out free, his master shall bore his 
ear through on the door-post with an awl, and he shall serve 
him for ever, Exod. xxi. 2 — 6, and ver. 26, 27. 

Note. This word, for ever, signifies till the year of Jubilee ; for all 
servants or slaves who were Hebrews, were then to have their free- 
dom, and return to their own lands and possessions in their own tribe. 
See Lev. xxv. 29 — 42. And this is the best way of reconciling Exod. 
xx, with Lev. xxv, where one text saith, the servant shall go out free 
in the seventh year, and another in the year of Jubilee, and the third 
saith, he shall serve for ever. 

8 Q. What special laws had they relating to their food? 

A. That they should eat no blood, nor the fat of the kid- 
neys, nor any thing that died of itself, or was torn of wild 
beasts, nor any of the beasts, or birds, or fishes, which were 



JUDICIAL LAW OF THE JEWS. 61 

pronounced to be unclean, Lev. xi, and xvii. Deut. xiv. 21. 
And therefore they would not eat with Heathens, lest they 
should taste unclean food. 

9 Q. What were some of their laws relating to their 
clothing ? 

A. A man must not wear the raiment of women, nor a 
woman the raiment of men. They must wear no mixed 
garment made of woollen and linen : and they were required 
to make fringes in the borders of their garments, and put 
upon the fringe of the borders a ribbon of blue, that they 
might look upon it, and remember to do the commandments 
of the Lord, Numb. xv. 38, 39. Deut. xxii. 5, 11, 12. 

Note. In our Saviour's time they wrote sentences of the law on 
parchment, and put them on their foreheads and their garments; 
These were called phylacteries, Matt, xxiii. 5. 

10 Q. What are some of their special laws about houses 
and lands ? 

A. That every seventh year the land should rest from 
ploughing and sowing ; and God promised to give them food 
enough in the sixth for the three years. And every fiftieth 
year, which is the year of Jubilee, all houses and lands that 
were sold, should return to their former possessors, except 
houses in walled towns, Lev. xxv. 2 — 17, 20, 21, 30, &c. 

Note. Every seventh year in which the fields were not to be tilled, 
was called a sabbath or sabbatical year : And after seven sabbatical 
years, that is, forty-nine years, was the year of Jubilee in the fiftieth. 
Though some have supposed the jubilee to be the forty-ninth year it- 
self, that so two sabbatical years might not come together : For in the 
jubilee, it is plain, there was to be no ploughing, nor sowing, nor reap- 
ing, nor vintage, Lev. xxv. 1. 

11 Q. What were some special Jewish laws about corn 
and husbandry ? 

A. They were forbid to plough with an ox, and an ass 
together ; to sow their fields with seeds of different kinds ; 
or to make clean riddance of their harvests, either of the 
field or of the trees, for the gleanings were to be left for the 
poor, Deut. xxii. 9—11. Lev. xix. 9, 10, 19. And any tra- 
vellers might eat their fill of grapes or corn in a field or 
vineyard, but might carry none away, Deut. xxiii. 24, 25. 

12 Q. What were some of their peculiar laws about mo- 
ney, goods, and cattle ? 

A. They mi^ht lend money upon usury to a stranger, but 
not to an Israelite. TJiat a thief should restore double for 

F 



62 OF THE POLITICAL, OR 

whatever things he had stolen ; but if he stole cattle, and 
killed or sold them, he must pay five oxen for an ox, and 
four sheep for a sheep, Exod. xxii. 22. Deut. xxii. 19, 20. 
Exod. xxii. 1 — 9. But if he had nothing to pay, the thief 
should be sold for his theft, ver. 3. 

13. Q. What special laws related to beasts and birds ? 

A. They were forbid to muzzle the mouth of the ox that 
trod out the corn, that so he might eat some while he was 
treading it : nor when they took a bird's-nest in the field 
with eggs or young ones, were they permitted to take the 
dam with them, Deut. xxv. 4, and xxii. 6. 7. 

14 Q. What laws were given them about the first-born ? 
A. The first-born of man and beast were devoted or given 

to God, as well as the first-fruits of the trees and of the field, 
Exod. xxii. 29, 30. Numb, xviii. 12, 13.* 

Note. The first-born of men were redeemed by the Levites : The 
first-born of beasts were to be sacrificed, or some way put to death, if 
not redeemed, Exod. xii. 2, 12, 13, 15. Numb. iii. 41. 

15 Q. What were the laws about the maintenance of the 
priests ? 

A. The priests were to be maintained by the first-born 
of all cattle, and the first-fruits of oil, and wine, and corn ; 
and they had a share in various sacrifices, namely, the 
heave-offerings, the wave-breast, and the right shoulder, &c. 
Numb, xviii. 8—19. 

Note* Heave-ofFerings were to be moved upwards and downwards, 
towards heaven and earth. Wave-offerings were to be shaken to and 
fro, or moved towards the four auarters of the heaven : All this is 
supposed to signify an offering of them to God, as universal Lord of 
all parts of the creation, and who dwells every where. 

16 Q. What were the laws about the Leges' maintenance'? 
A. They were maintained by the tenth or tithe of fruits 

and corn, which God appointed for them, Numb. xvii. 21, 24. 
And they had some cities and their suburbs, given them out 
of every tribe, Josh. xxi. 

17 Q. What were some of their special laws about the 
bodies and the lives of men ? 

A. He that killed, or stole, and sold a man, must die for it, 
Exod. xxi. 12, 16. And in all cases of real injury or mis- 
chief, life was to pay for life, an eye for an eye, a hand for a 

* The first-born were devoted in commemoration of the preservation 
of Israel, when the first-born of Egypt were slain. Exod. xiii. 11 — 16. 



JUDICIAL LAW OF THE JEWS. 63 

hand, or a foot for a foot, Lev. xxiv. 17 — 20. And this was 
the penalty of a false witness, who intended to bring any 
mischief whatsoever on another, Deut. xix. 18, &c. for the 
same was to be executed on the false witness. 

18 Q. Was there no pardon for him that killed another'? 
A. If he did it wilfully there was no pardon; but if it was 

done by chance, there were six cities of refuge in the land 
of Canaan appointed, to which the manslayer might fly 
and be safe. But he was bound to dwell there till the death 
of the high priest, Numb. xxxv. 11 — 33. 

19 Q. Was the law the same for the servant or slave, 
and for the freeman, in case of maiming and of murder ? 

A. Not entirely the same ; for in some cases of maiming 
or killing a slave, the offender was not punished to the same 
degree as if the injured person had been a freeman, Exod. 
xxi. 20, 26. 

20 Q. What were some of the usual punishments of 
criminals appointed in the Jewish law? 

A. A fine of money or cattle to be paid, a cutting off' 
from the people, or congregation, scourging or beating, at 
most with forty stripes, the loss of a limb, or the loss of life, 
Exod. xxi. 19, 22, 36. Lev. xix. 20, chap. xxiv. 17—20. 

21 Q. What is the meaning of being cut off from the 
people, or the congregation ? 

A. In some greater crimes, such as presumptuous rebel- 
lion against the laws of God, wilful Sabbath-breaking, &c. 
it may signify capital punishment, or death by the hands of 
the magistrate, Numb. xv. 30, 31. Exod. xxxi. 14. In some 
cases it may intend a being devoted to some judgment by the 
immediate hand of God, Lev. xvii. 10, and xx. 5, 6. But in 
some lesser crimes, perhaps, it may signify no more than to 
be excommunicated, or shut out of the congregation of Is- 
rael, and the privileges thereof; as for eating leavened bread 
at the time of the passover, Exod. xii. 15, or for a man's go- 
ing unto the holy things with his uncleanness upon him, 
Lev. xxii. 3, where it is expressed, that that soul shall be 
cut off from the presence of God. But this question hath 
some difficulties in it, and learned men differ about the sense 
of these words being cut off. 

22 Q. If the Jews were permitted to give forty stripes, 
how came Paul five times to receive but forty stripes, save 
one, from the Jews, who so much hated him 1 1 Cor. xi. 24. 



64 LAWS OF THE JEWS. 

A. Because they pretended to be very scrupulous in ob- 
serving the law exactly, and therefore they never inflicted 
more than thirty-nine stripes, lest they should happen to 
mistake in the tale, while they were inflicting forty, and thus 
transgress the law. 

23 Q. What were their most common ways of putting 
criminals to death 1 

A. By hanging them on a tree, or by stoning them with 
stones, Numb. xxv. 4. Deut. xxi. 23 ; xiii. 9, 10. Numb, 
xv. 35. 

24 Q. How many witnesses were necessary to condemn 
a criminal to death ! 

A. At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he that 
is worthy of death be put to death, but not at the mouth of 
one witness, Deut. xvii. 6, 7. 

25 Q. What was the design of God in giving them so 
many peculiar laws about their civil or political affairs 1 

A. (1.) To let them know that God was their king as well 
as their God, and to keep them distinct and separate from 
the rest of the nations, as his own people and kingdom. 

(2.) Many of these laws were in themselves excellently 
suited to the advantage of the people dwelling in that 
country, and under those circumstances. 

(3.) Some of these laws had a moral or spiritual meaning 
in them, which might partly be known at that time, and 
which was further discovered afterwards. 

26 Q. What instances can you give of moral lessons 
taught by these political laws 1 

A. Thou shalt not take the dam with the young, Deut. 
xxii. 6, 7, is to teach men mildness and compassion. Thou 
shalt not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn, Deut. xxv. 
4, is to show that ministers, who provide us with spiritual 
food, ought to be maintained themselves, 1 Cor. ix. 9, 10; 
for so the apostle has explained it. 



JEWS IN THE WILDERNESS. 65 



CHAPTER VII. 

Of the Sins and Punishments of the Jews in the 
Wilderness. 

1 Q. After all this account of the moral, ceremonial, and 
judicious laws, can you tell me whether the people of Isra- 
el obeyed them or not 1 

A. No, they often broke the laws of God, and sinned 
against him, and were often punished, Isa. lxiii. 10. Psalm 
lxxviii. 32—34. 

2 Q. What were the most remarkable sins against God 
in the wilderness ? v 

A. Besides their murmurings at some difficulties in the 
beginning of their journey, their first remarkable and noto- 
rious crime was their making a golden calf, and worshipping 
it at the foot of mount Sinai, Exod. xxxii. 4, 8. 

3 Q. What temptation, or what pretence could they have 
for such a crime 7 

A. Moses was gone up into mount Sinai, and tarried 
there so many days longer than they expected, that they 
wanted some visible token of God's presence among them ; 
and so they constrained Aaron to make this golden image, 
to be a representation of the presence of God, but without 
God's appointment, Exod. xxxii. 1. 

Note. It is scarcely to be supposed that this was the mere image of 
a common calf, or that the Jews could fall down and worship such an 
image : or that they could suppose an ox or a calf, which was the idol 
of their enemies the Egyptians, was a proper emblem of the God of 
Israel, their deliverer from Egypt. Probably therefore, it was the 
image of a cherub, partly in the form of" a winged ox. And since God 
was represented immediately afterwards by Moses, as dwelling among 
the cherubims on the mercy-seat, this might be a common opinion or 
notion before-hand among the people even of that age ;* and it might 

* There were some things relating to the worship of God which that 
people had some general notion of before Moses went up into the 
mount to learn all the particulars from God : as for instance, they had 
altars and sacrifices, and sprinkling of blood, Exod. xxiv. 4, 6, 8. They 
had priests, Exod. xix. 22. 24, and a tabernacle, or moveable chapel, 
Exod. xxxii. 6, 7. And they might know that God dwelt among an- 
gels, or some glorious winged beings, as his attendants. And these 
cherubs might be sometimes figured as flying men with calves' feet 
or as flying oxen, as part of the equipage or attendants of God. 

f2 



66 SINS AND PUNISHMENTS OF THE 

be made as a visible representation of the presence of God, for they 
proclaimed a feast to Jehovah, ver. 5. in the same manner as Jeroboam, 
long afterwards, made perhaps the same sort of images for the same 
purpose, which are called calves. But both this and that being done 
without God's appointment, it was all idolatry, and in the way of the 
utmost contempt, it was called worshipping a calf; and was accord- 
ingly punished as highly criminal. See Chap. V. Quest. 37. 

4 Q. How did God punish them for the golden calf] 

A. The children of Levi were commanded to slay their 
brethren, and they slew three thousand of the children of 
Israel, Exod. xxxii. 27, 28. 

5 Q. What was another of their remarkable sins ? 

A. In the next stage after Sinai, they lothed the manna 
which God sent them, and murmured for want of flesh, 
Numb. xi. 4. 

6 Q. How was this murmuring punished ? 

A. God gave them the flesh of quails in abundance, and 
sent the plague with it, Numb. xi. 31, 33. 

7 Q. What was their third remarkable sin ? 

A. Being discouraged by the spies who searched out the 
land of Canaan, and brought an ill report of that promised 
land, they were for making a captain to return to Egypt, 
Numb. xxii. 32, and chap. xiv. 3, 4, 36. 

8 Q. How was this rebellion chastised 1 

A. Ten of the spies died immediately of a plague, and all 
the people were condemned to wander forty years in the 
wilderness, till all those who were above twenty years' old 
should die by degrees in their travels, Numb. xiv. 29 — 37- 

9 Q. Who of the spies were saved ] 

A. None but Caleb and Joshua, who followed the Lord 
fully, and gave a good account of the land of promise, 
Numb. xiv. 6, 23, 24, 37, 38, and chap. xxvi. 65. 

10 Q. What was their fourth remarkable sin ? 

A. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram stirred up a rebel- 
lion against Moses and Aaron, Numb. xvi. 1, &c. 

11 Q. What was the occasion of this rebellion of Korah 
and his companions ? 

A. They pretended that all Israel were holy, and that 
Aaron and his family had no more right to the priesthood 
than they ; and that Moses took too much upon him to de- 
termine every thing among them, Numb. xv. 3, 10. 

12 Q. How were Korah, Dathan, and Abiram punished ? 
A. They and their families were swallowed up by an 

f2 



JEWS IN THE WILDERNESS. 67 

earthquake,* and their two hundred and fifty companions 
were burnt by a fire which came out from God, ver. 31, 35, 
and when the congregation murmured against Moses and 
Aaron for the death of these sinners, God smote above four- 
teen thousand of them, and they died of the plague, ver. 
41—50. 

13 Q. What miracle did God work to show that he had 
chosen Aaron's family to the priesthood ] 

A. He bid the heads of the people choose twelve rods for 
the twelve tribes of Israel, and write Aaron's name upon 
Levi's rod, and lay them up in the tabernacle till the mor- 
row: At which time they took each man his rod, and 
Aaron's rod blossomed and yielded almonds, Numb. xvii. 2 
—10. 

14 Q. What was done with this rod of Aaron ! 

A. It was laid up in the ark to be a lasting testimony 
against these rebels, ver. 10, and to confirm Aaron's right to 
the priesthood. 

15 Q. What was a fifth remarkable sin of the people] 
A. They murmured because of the length of the way, and 

for want of better food than manna, Numb. xxi. 4, 5. 

16 Q. How was this new murmuring punished'? 

A. God sent fiery serpents among them, which destroyed 
many of them, Numb. xxi. 6. 

17 Q. How were the people healed which w T ere bitten 
by the serpents '! 

A. By looking up to a serpent of brass, which Moses put 
upon a high pole at God's command, Numb. xxi. 8, 9. 

18 Q. What was the sixth remarkable sin of Israel ! 

A. Whoredom and idolatry ; for they loved the Midian- 
itish women, and worshipped their gods, Numb. xxv. 1, 2. 

19 Q. How was this whoredom and idolatry punished] 
A. By the command of God and Moses to kill the offenders, 

and by a plague which slew twenty-four thousand, Numb, 
xxv. 4, 5, 9. 

20 Q. Who tempted them to this idolatry] 

A. Balaam, the wicked prophet and soothsayer, Numb, 
xxxi. 16. 

21 Q. Why did he tempt them to it] 

A. Because God hindered him from cursing Israel, when 

* Yet in Numb. xxvi. 11. the sons of Korah are excepted. 



68 OF THE ISRAELITES' 

Balak the king of Moab had hired him to do it, Numb. xxii. 
5—12. 

22 Q. How did God hinder him ? 

A. Three ways. (1.) By forbidding him to go at first, 
though afterwards he permitted him. (2.) By making his 
own ass speak to him to stop him when he was going. (3.) 
By inspiring him with prophecies, and compelling him to 
bless Israel three or four times, instead of cursing them. 
See Numb. xxi. 12, 30, 31, and xxiii. 7, 8, &c. 

23 Q. What became of Balaam at last? 

A. He was slain among the Midianites by the men of Is- 
rael, under the conduct of Moses, before they came to the 
river of Jordan, Numb. xxxi. 1 — 8 t 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Of the Jews' entrance into Canaan, and their government 
by Judges. 

Sect. I. — Of the Israelites' possession of Canaan. 

1 Q. What became of the people of Israel after all their 
wanderings in the wilderness ? 

A. Though their sins and punishments were many and 
great, yet they were not destroyed, but God brought them 
at last into Canaan, the land which he promised to their 
fathers, Josh. i. 11. 

2 Q. Did Moses lead them into that land 1 

A. No, he was only permitted to see it from mount Pis- 
gah, and there he died, and God buried him, Deut. xxxiv. 
1—8. 

3 Q. Did Aaron go with them into Canaan ? 

A. Aaron died before Moses, and Eleazer his son was 
made high priest in his room, Numb. xv. 24 — 28. 

4 Q. Why were not Moses the lawgiver, nor Aaron the 
high priest, suffered to bring the people into the land of 
promise 7 

A. Because they had both sinned and offended God in 
the wilderness, and God would show his displeasure against 
sin, Deut. xxii. 48 — 51. 



POSSESSION OF CANAAN. 69 

5 Q. What other lesson might God design to teach us by 
this conduct of Providence ? 

A. Perhaps God might teach us hereby that neither the 
laws of Moses, nor the priesthood of Aaron, were sufficient 
to bring us into the possession of the heavenly country, of 
which Canaan was a figure. 

6 Q. Who was appointed to lead the people of Israel into 
the promised land 1 

A. Joshua, (that is, Saviour) whose name is the same 
with Jesus, and who came to be the governor and captain 
of Israel after Moses died, Josh. iii. 13-— 15. 

7 Q. How did they get over the river Jordan 1 

A. As soon as the priests who bore the ark, dipped their 
feet in the brink of the river, the waters which were above 
rose up in a heap, and the channel was left dry while all 
the people passed over, Josh. iii. 14, 15. 

8 Q. What memorial did they leave of their passing over 
Jordan on foot ! 

A. By God's appointment they took up twelve stones out 
of the midst of Jordan, where the priests stood with the 
ark while the tribes passed over, and set them up as a mo- 
nument in the place wherein they lodged the first night, 
Josh. iv. 3—9, 23. 

9 Q. How were they commanded to deal with the Ca- 
naanites when they took their land 1 

A. They were required to destroy them utterly, lest if 
they should live they might teach Israel their idolatries and 
their wicked customs, Deut. vii. 16 — 26. 

10 Q. But what right had the Jews to destroy them and 
take their country 1 

A. The Canaanites were abominable sinners, and God, 
by particular inspiration, made the Jews the executioners 
of his wrath against them, just as he might have used an 
earthquake, a plague, or the beasts of the earth to have 
destroyed them ; and then, as the sovereign Lord of all, he 
gave their forfeited country and possessions to whom he 
pleased, Lev. xviii. 24, 25. Psalm cxxxvi. 17, 23. 

Note. Here let it be observed, that this awful instance of one na- 
tion's destroying another, and seizing their lands and possessions, was 
shown to be authorized by God himself, the righteous Judge of the 
world, in and by a long train of most conspicuous and public miracles 
and prophecies ; so that the Israelites could not be deceived in their 
divine commission for this bloody work. Nor is it liable to be 



70 OF THE ISRAELITES' 

made a precedent, or a pretence for any other nation or person to 
treat their neighbours at this rate, be they ever so wicked, unless 
they can show such astonishing and undoubted attestations of a plain 
commission from God, the righteous governor of the world, and the 
sovereign Lord of all. 

11 Q. What was the name of the first city they took in 
Canaan 1 

A. Jericho, whose walls fell down, when by God's ap- 
pointment they sounded trumpets made of rams' horns, Josh, 
vi. 5, 20. 

12 Q. What did they do when they took the city 1 

A. By God's command they devoted it as the first-fruits, 
to be a sacrifice to the Lord, and therefore they burnt all the 
goods in it, together with the city, as well as destroyed all 
the inhabitants, except Rahab the harlot, and her kindred, 
Josh. vi. 24, 25. 

13 Q. Why was Rahab spared 1 

A. Because she believed that God would give Israel the 
land of Canaan, and she hid and saved the spies whom Jo- 
shua sent, Josh. ii. 9 — 14, and chap. vi. 25, 26. Heb. xi. 31. 

14 Q. How did the army of Israel succeed against the 
men of Ai J 

A. God suffered Israel to be put to flight before the men 
of Ai, because Achan an Israelite had stole and hid some of 
the spoil of the city of Jericho, which was accursed, and 
devoted to the fire, Josh. vii. 5 — 9. 

15 Q. How was the anger of God appeased for this 
crime 1 

A. They mourned humbly before God, they sought out 
the person who had stolen this accursed thing, and stoned 
him and his family to death,* Josh. vii. 6, 13, 14, 24. 

16 Q. How did they take the city of Ai at last? 

A. By counterfeiting a flight, as on the former day, and 
when the men of Ai were drawn out of the city, the Israel- 
ites who lay in ambush entered and burnt it, Josh. viii. 13 
—29. 

17 Q. How did the Gibeonites deceive the people of Is- 
rael, and save themselves from death 1 

A. They sent ambassadors, with old sacks upon their 

* By neglecting to seek out or punish the crimes of individuals, the 
community becomes involved in their guilt and obnoxious to punish- 
ment. This was probably the case with Israel in the sin of Achan. 



POSSESSION OF CANAAN. 71 

asses, and old garments, and mouldy bread, to prove that 
they came from a far country, and the men of Israel rashly 
made peace with them, and swore to it, Josh. ix. 4 — 15. 

18 Q. What did Joshua do when he found that they dwelt 
in the midst of Canaan 1 

A. He let them live, because the elders had sworn to 
them, but he made them hewers of wood and drawers of 
water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord, 
ver. 27. 

19 Q. How did Israel conquer the king of Jerusalem, 
with his four allies I 

A. God helped Israel, by casting great hail-stones from 
heaven upon their enemies, Josh. x. 10, 12. 

20 Q. What remarkable thing did Joshua do that day! 
A. He bid the sun and moon stand still to lengthen out 

the day for his victory, and they obeyed him, Josh. x. 12 — 14. 

21 Q. What did Joshua do with the five kings, when he 
took them ] 

A. He called the captains of Israel to set their feet on 
their necks, and then he slew them, and hanged them up on 
five trees before the Lord, Josh. xi. 24, 26. 

22 Q. Did Joshua proceed to conquer the whole country 1 
A. No. The Israelites, under the conduct of Joshua, went 

on till they had slain one and thirty kings, and then the peo- 
ple rested from war for a season, Josh. x. 23, and chap, 
xii. 24. 

23 Q. Where was the tabernacle first set up after they 
came to Canaan 1 

A. In Shiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim, at some distance 
from Jerusalem, and there it tarried above three hundred 
years, even till the days of Samuel, Josh, xviii. 1 Sam. i. 3. 

24 Q. How came it to be set up there 1 

A. By the appointment of God ; for it is said, he set his 
name first in Shiloh, Jer. vii. 12. See Deut. xii. 5 — 16. 

25 Q. How was the land of Canaan divided among the 
people ? 

A. Reuben, and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, had 
their inheritance given them by Moses on the other (the 
east) side of Jordan : and Joshua cast lots for the rest of 
the tribes before the Lord in Shiloh, Numb, xxxii. Josh. xiii. 
7, 8, and chap, xviii. 10. 

26 Q. Did not the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half 



72 ISRAELITES' POSSESSION OF CANAAN. 

Manasseh, go to help their brethren in destroying the Ca- 
naanites ? 

A. Yes, by the appointment of Moses, they went over 
Jordan to assist their brethren, till they were settled in the 
land, Numb, xxxii. 16, 33, and Josh. i. 12 — 18. 

27 Q. What memorial did these two tribes and a half 
leave in the land of Canaan, that they belonged to the na- 
tion of Israel? 

A. They built a great altar on the borders of Jordan, not 
for sacrifice, but merely as a memorial of their interest in 
the God of Israel, in the tabernacle, and in the worship 
thereof, Josh. xxii. 

28 Q. Where was the tribe of Levi disposed of? 

A. Being devoted to the service of the tabernacle and 
religion, they were not fixed in one spot of ground, but had 
a share in the inheritance of every tribe, that they might 
teach every city the laws of God, and their duty, Josh. xxi. 3. 

29 Q. What did Joshua do just before his death 1 

A. He summoned the people together, and made a most 
solemn covenant with them, that they should serve the Lord, 
Josh, xxiii, and xxiv. 1 — 28. 

30 Q. Did the Israelites go on to drive out the inhabit- 
ants of Canaan after the death of Joshua 1 

A. Yes ; by the appointment of God, the tribe of Judah 
went up against Bezek, Judges i. 1, 4. 

31 Q. What did the Israelites do to Adoni-bezek (or the 
king of Bezek) when they took him ] 

A. They cut off his thumbs and great toes, Judges i. 6. 

32 Q. What remark did he make upon it ? 

A. He confessed the justice of God in this punishment, 
for he had cut off the thumbs and great toes of threescore 
and ten kings, and made them gather meat under his table, 
ver. 7. 

33 Q. Did the Israelites drive all the Canaanites out of 
the land 1 

A. No; for there were some left for several hundred years 
after Joshua's death : The Jebusites and the Philistines con- 
tinued till the days of David, 2 Sam. v. 6, 17. 

34 Q. Why did not God assist Israel to drive them all 
out? 

A. Because Israel did not obey the commands of God, and 
some of the Canaanites were left to prove Israel, whether 



THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL. 73 

they would obey the Lord, and to be as thorns in their sides, 
to punish them for their sins, Josh, xxiii. 12, 13. Judges ii. 
3, 21, and chap. iii. 1 — 4. 

35 Q. What were the most common sins that Israel was 
guilty of after their settlement in Canaan 1 

A. They fell into idolatry, or worshipping the gods of the 
nations round about them, after Joshua was dead, and the 
elders of the people of that age that outlived Joshua, Judges 
ii. 6, 7, 10—15. 

Sect. II. Of the government of Israel by Judges. 

36 Q. Who governed the people of Israel after Joshua's 
death] 

A. God was always the king and ruler of Israel, and un- 
der him the several tribes probably chose their own judges, 
magistrates, and officers, according to the appointment of 
Moses,* Exod. xviii. Deut. i. 13. Josh. xxiv. 1. 

Note. These officers or judges, which were set over the people 
by Moses, at the advice of Jethro, were at first chosen by the people 
in their several tribes, just after they came out of Egypt, Exod. xviii. 
Moses says to the people, take ye wise men, &c Deut. i. 13. 

The seventy or seventy-two elders were the gravest and most ve- 
nerable of those officers, six out of every tribe ; for God says to Moses, 
gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou know- 
est, to be officers over them, Numb. xi. 16. These were to meet to- 
gether, and consult upon extraordinary occasions, as when a sort of 
sedition was raised by the murmurings of the people, Numb, xi ; or in 
such like cases of danger. 

The high priest was the chief counsellor, and sometimes a judge ; 
for the oracle of God was with him, and he was supposed to be chief- 
ly skilled in the law, especially if he were an elderly man. 

The common priests and Levites were also assistants to the judges, 
by way of counsel, and in deciding controversies in every tribe, Deut 
xvii. 9 — 12. But still the executive power was vested in the judge of 
each tribe, and God himself was their king and the centre of union 
and government. 

But when, through their idolatry and wickedness, God forsook the 
people, and the officers and judges neglected their duty, the people 
sustained the miseries and confusions of an anarchy, as it is several 
times expressed in the book of Judges : there was no king in Israel, 
and every one did what was right in his own eyes. And by their dis- 
union and want of government they were weakened, and became an 
easy prey to their enemies round about them : but at particular sea- 
sons God raised them up extraordinary judges to recover them from 
slavery, and to restore government among them: and these had 
G 



74 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF 

a dominion over many or all the tribes, being specially raised up by 
God himself. 

That this was the original and appointed method of the government 
of Israel, as I have described it, we may learn partly from Deut. i. 
13, where the officers are chosen, and Deut. xvii, 8 — 12, and xix. 16 — 
18, where Moses appoints the business of the priests and the judges; 
and partly from 2 Chron. xvii. 7 — 9, and xix. 5 — 11. where Hezekiah 
makes a reformation throughout the land, and appoints the judges to 
be executors of justice, the priests and Levites to be the teachers of 
the people, and counsellors to the judges, and the high priest to be 
the chief counsellor: and sometimes he was a judge also, as was be- 
fore intimated. 

37 Q. Was not the high priest their ruler under God 1 
A. The high priest seems to be appointed by God and 

Moses, to be the chief counsellor in declaring the laws and 
statutes of God, as the other priests were also counsellors ; 
but the executive power of government was rather vested in 
those who were called judges, whether they were ordinary 
or extraordinary, Deut. xvii. 9, 12. 

38 Q. Did these ordinary officers do justice, and maintain 
good order in the land after the days of Joshua ! 

A. We have very little account of them ; but it is certain 
they did not fulfil their duty, because there was sometimes 
great wickedness among the people, without restraint ; 
much idolatry and mischief, both public and private, and 
that for want of government, Judges xvii. 6, and chap, 
xxi. 25. 

39 Q. Why did God, the king of Israel, leave his people 
under these inconveniences 1 

A. As they had forsaken God and his laws, so God seemed 
sometimes to have forsaken the care of them, and given 
them up to the confusions and miseries which arise from the 
want of government for a season : and also suffered their 
enemies on every side to make inroads upon them, and bring 
them into slavery, Judges ii. 11 — 15. 

40 Q. But did not the great God interpose for their de- 
liverance I 

A. Sometimes in the course of his Providence, and by 
special inspiration, he raised up, generally in answer to their 
prayers, extraordinary judges to rescue them from the hand 
of their enemies, and to restore government among them, 
Judges ii. 16 — 19. 

41 Q. Who were some of the most remarkable of these 
extraordinary judges 1 



ISRAEL BY JUDGES. 75 

• 

A. Ehud and Shamgar, Deborah and Gideon, Jephthah, 
Samson, and Samuel. 

42 Q. Who was Ehud? 

A. A man of Benjamin, who delivered Israel from the 
oppression of Eglon king- of Moab, Judges iii. 12, 15. 

43 Q. How did he deliver them ] 

A. By bringing a present to Eglon, and then stabbing him 
with a dagger, Judges iii. 16, 17. 

44 Q. What did Shamgar do toward their deliverance ? 

A. He rescued Israel from the oppression of the Philis- 
tines, and slew six hundred of them with an ox's goad, 
Judges iii. 31. 

45 Q. Who was Deborah ? 

A. She was a woman, a prophetess, who delivered Israel 
from the tyranny of Jabin, king of Canaan, who had nine 
hundred chariots of iron, Judges iv. 2 — 4. 

46 Q. How did she deliver Israel from his hands ? 

A. She sent forth Barak to battle against him, who rout- 
| ed his army, which was commanded by Sisera his general, 
Judges iv. 5. 

47 Q. How was Sisera slain ? 

A. By the hand of Jael, a woman, who when he came to 
rest himself in her tent, drove a nail into his temple, Judges 
i iv. 18—22. 
,; 48 Q. Who was Gideon? 

A. The son of Joash ; he was called by an angel, or God 
himself, to destroy the worship of Baal, and to deliver Israel 
, from the hands of the Midianites, Judges vi. 11 — 14. 

Note. Gideon had sufficient evidence that this was a message 
from God himself, for the angel talked with him; and when Gideon 
| had fetched sdme flesh and cakes to entertain him, the angel bid 
' him lay them upon a rock, and pour out the broth upon them, 
j then with one end of his rod the angel touched them, and fire 
! arose and consumed them. 

49 Q. How did he begin his work? 

A. He first threw down the altar of Baal the idol by night, 
I and cut down the idolatrous grove, and then offered a sacri- 
! fice to the Lord, according to the order he had received from 
, God, Judges vi. 25—28. 

50 Q. What further sign did God give him of success? 
A. At his request God made a fleece of wool wet, when 

the ground all around it was dry ; and again, he made 



76 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF 

a fleece of wool dry, when the ground was wet, Judges vi. 
36—40. 

51 Q. How x many men did God appoint for Gideon's 
army] 

A. Out of thirty-two thousand he appointed but three 
hundred men, Judges vii. 3, 6, 7. 

52 Q. How did three hundred men conquer Midian ! 

A. Each of them, by Gideon's order, took a trumpet, and 
a pitcher with a lamp in it, and coming at midnight on the 
camp of the Midianites, they broke their pitchers, and 
frightened them with a sudden blaze of their lamps, the 
sound of the trumpets, and loud shouting, Judges vii. 20—23. 

53 Q. Did Gideon reign over Israel after this great 
victory ] 

A. No, he refused it, for he said God was their king, 
Judges viii. 23. 

54 JQ. Did Gideon's sons govern Israel afterwards? 

A. None of Gideon's threescore and ten sons set up them- 
selves, but Abimelech, the son of his concubine, made him- 
self king, Judges ix. 1, 2, 6. 

55 Q. How did Abimelech advance himself to the king- 
dom'? 

A. He slew all his threescore and ten brothers, except 
the youngest, who escaped, Judges ix. 5. 

56 Q. How was Abimelech slain ? 

A. While he was besieging a city, a woman cast a piece 
of millstone upon his head. Judges ix. 51 — 53. 

57 Q. Who was Jephthah? 

A. A mighty man of valour, who delivered Israel from the 
power of the Ammonites, Judges xi. 1, 32, 33. 

58 Q. What was remarkable concerning him ? 

A. He made a rash vow to sacrifice to God the first thing 
that came to meet him after his victory, and that happened 
to be his daughter, and only child, Judges xi. 30, 31, 34. 

Note. It is a matter of doubt and controversy among the learned, 
whether Jephthah, being a soldier, in those days of ignorance, did 
not really offer his daughter for a sacrifice, (according to his vow,) 
as the Scripture seems to express it ; or whether he only restrained 
her from marriage, and bearing children, which in those days was 
accounted like a sacrifice, and as a sentence of death passed on 
them. 

59 Q. Who was Samson ? 



ISRAEL BT^TUDGES. 77 

A. The son of Manoah, and ne delivered Israel from the 
hands of the Philistines, Judges xiii, and chap, xiv, &c. 

60 Q. What was his character] 

A. He was the strongest of men, but he does not seem to 
have been the wisest or the best. 

61 Q. Wherein did his strength lie 1 

A. He was a Nazarite, devoted to God from his birth, 
and so was bound to let his hair grow, and then God was 
with him ; but when his hair was cut, God left him, Judges 
xiii. 7, and ch. xvi. 17. 

62. Q. What instances did he give of his great strength] 
A. He tore a lion asunder, he broke all the cords with 

which he was bound, he slew a thousand Philistines with a 
jaw-bone of an ass ; and when he fell in love with a harlot 
in Gaza, and the Philistines beset the city gates, he carried 
away the gates and gate-posts of the city with him, when he 
made his way out, and escaped, Judges xiv. 5, 6, and chap, 
xv. 13, 14, and xvi. 3, 11, 13. 

63. Q. What befel him afterward ? 

A. He fell in love with Delilah, another of the Philistine 
women, who cut off his hair, and then she betrayed him to 
the Philistines, who put out his eyes, and made him grind in 
a mill, Judges xvi. 4 — 21. 

64 Q. What was Samson's end 1 

A. Thousands of the Philistines were gathered together to 
make sport with Sampson: and, in order to revenge himself of 
the Philistines, and to destroy the enemies of Israel, he pulled 
the house down upon their heads and his own, Judges xvi. 30. 

65 Q. Who judged Israel after Samson? 

A. Eli the high priest is said to have judged Israel forty 
years ; but he is not supposed to be one of the extraordinary 
judges who delivered them, but rather that he was made an 
ordinarv magistrate, perhaps, over some part of the land, 
1 Sam. iv. 18. 

66 Q. Who was the last of these extraordinary judges'? 

A. Samuel, the prophet, the son of Hannah, a pious wo- 
man, who had no child before, and requested of God to give 
her one, 1 Sam. i. 20. 

67 Q,. What was written in honour of Hannah ? 

A. When she was greatly provoked and grieved in spirit, 
she prayed to God in the tabernacle, and she went away 
cheerful, 1 Sam. i. 15, 18. 

g2 



78 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, 



68 Q. Where was SamtSST brought up ? 

A. As he was requested of the Lord, so he was given to 
the Lord, and was brought up at the tabernacle in Shiloh, 
under the care of Eli the high priest, 1 Sam. i. 22, 28. 

69 Q. What was Samuel's office ? 

A. He waited on the service of the tabernacle as a Le- 
vite, being the first-born, and being given to God, 1 Sam. ii. 18. 

70 Q. Was he not also a prophet ? 

A. Yes, God called him three times in one night when he 
was a child, and made a prophet of him, and told him what 
calamities should befall the house of Eli the high priest, 
1 Sam. iii. 4 — 14. 

71 Q. What was the great crime of Eli ? 

A. Though he loved and honoured God himself, yet he 
did not restrain his sons from wickedness, 1 Sam. iii. 15. 

72 Q. In what manner did God show his displeasure 
against the house of Eli I 

A. His two sons were slain by the Philistines in battle, 
and the high priesthood went into another branch of Aaron's 
family, 1 Sam. ii. 27, 36. 1 Kings ii. 27. 

73 Q. What became of Eli himself? 
A. When he heard that the ark of God was taken by the 

Philistines, he fainted for grief, and falling down backward, 
he broke his neck, 1 Sam. iv. 17, 18. 

74 Q. What did the Philistines do with the ark of God? 
A. They brought it into the house of their idol, Dagon, 

and the idol fell down and broke off his head and his hands 
upon the threshhold, 1 Sam. v. 2—5. 

75 Q. What punishment did the Philistines suffer for 
keeping the ark 1 

A. In several cities where they placed it, God destroyed 
many of the inhabitants, and smote the rest with sore dis- 
eases, 1 Sam. v. 6—12. 

76 Q. What became of the ark then? 

A. The Philistines put it into a new cart drawn by two 
milch-kine, whose calves were shut up at home, and yet 
they carried it directly into the land of Israel to Beth-she- 
mesh, 1 Sam. vi. 12. 

77 Q. What did the men of Beth-shemesh do? 

A. They looked into the ark, which was utterly forbidden, 
and God smote many of them with a great slaughter, and 
they sent the ark away to Kirjath-jearim, 1 Sam. vi. 19 — 21. 



UNDER SAUL .AND DAVID. 79 

• 

78 Q. How did Samuel deliver Israel from the Philistines 
when they made a new war upon them'? 

A. He offered a burnt-offering, and prayed to the Lord, 
and God fought against the Philistines with thunder from 
heaven, and scattered and destroyed them, 1 Sam. vii. 9, 
10, 13. 

79 Q. How did Samuel govern the people 1 

A. He travelled through the land every year ; he judged 
Israel with great honour and justice for many years; but in 
his old age he made his sons judges, and they oppressed and 
abused the people, 1 Sam. vi. 15—17, and ch. viii. 1 — 4, 
and xii. 1 — 5. 

80 Q. What was the request of the people on this occa- 
sion? 

A. That they might have a king like the rest of the na- 
tions, 1 Sam. viii. 5. 

81 Q. What did Samuel do in this case 1 

A. He would have advised them against it, because God 
was their king, but they still persisted in desiring a man for 
a king, 1 Sam. viii. 6, 7, 19, 20. 

82 Q. Did Samuel gratify them in this desire 1 

A. Being admonished of God, he complied with their de- 
sire, and appointed a king over them, 1 Sam. viii. 22. % 



CHAPTER IX. 

Of the government of Israel under their Kings, and first 
of Saul and David. 

1 Q. Who was the first king of Israel 1 

A. Saul, a very tall young man, the son of Kish, a Ben- 
jamite, 1 Sam. ix. 1, 2. 

2 Q. How did Samuel first meet with him'? 

A. Saul was sent by his father to seek some asses that he 
had lost, and asking Samuel about them, Samuel took him 
aside privately, and anointed him king of Israel. 1 Sam. ix. 
15— -27, and ch. x. 1—8. 

3 Q. But how was he made king publicly 1 

A. God chose and determined Saul to be king, by casting 



80 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, 

lots among the tribes and families of Israel, 1 Sam. x. 
19—25. 

4 Q. How did Saul behave himself in his kingdom ? 

A. He governed well at first for a little time; but after- 
wards he disobeyed the word of God in several instances, 
and God rejected him, 1 Sam. xiii. 13, and ch. xv. 23. 

5 Q. Whom did God choose in his room ? 

A. David, of the tribe of Judah, who is called the man 
after God's own heart, 1 Sam. xvi. 1, and ch. xiii. 14. Acts 
xiii. 22. 

6 Q. Who were the forefathers of David ? 

A. He was the youngest son of Jesse, who was the son of 
Obed, who was the son of Boaz by Ruth his wife, Ruth iv. 
17—22. 

7 Q. Who was this Ruth 1 

A. She was a woman of Moab, and she married Mahlon 
a Jew, the son of Naomi, when they came to sojourn in 
Moab, because of a famine in Israel, Ruth i. 1 — 4. 

8 Q. Did Ruth leave the country of Moab 1 ? 

A. Yes, after her husband died in the land of Moab, she 
followed her mother-in-law, Naomi, into the land of Israel, 
and took the God of Israel for her God, Ruth i. 16, 17. 

9 Q. What kind providence attended her in the land of 
Israeli 

A. Boaz, a rich man, who was near of kin to her former 
husband, married her, and so she became the great-grand- 
mother of David, Ruth iv. 16, 17. 

10 Q. What was David's employment? 

A. Being the youngest son of a large family, he was bred 
up to keep his father's sheep, 1 Sam. xvi. 11. 

11 Q. What considerable actions did he do while he was 
a shepherd ? 

A. He killed a lion and a bear who came to rob his fa- 
ther's flock, 1 Sam. xvii. 34. 

12 Q. How did God anoint him to be king? 

A. He sent Samuel secretly to anoint him with oil at 
Bethlehem, in the midst of his brethren, 1 Sam. xv. 13. 

13 Q. How did David make his first appearance at court? 
A. David understood music, and when the evil spirit of 

melancholy came upon Saul, hearing of David's skill in 
music, he sent for him to play on the harp to refresh him, 
1 Sam. xvi. 16—23. 



UNDER SAUL AND DAVID. 81 

14 Q. What remarkable action made him more publicly 
known 1 

A. When Goliah the giant challenged the men of Israel, 
David undertook the combat, and slew him with a sling and 
a stone, 1 Sam. xvii. 19 — 54. 

15 Q. How did Saul employ him afterwards ? 

A. He sent him out against the Philistines, and he slew 
many thousands of them, 1 Sam. xix. 8. 

16 Q. How came Saul then to bear him an ill-will ? 

A. From mere envy, because the women of Israel sung 
to their instruments of music, Saul had slain his thousands, 
and David his ten thousands, 1 Sam. xviii. 5, 6, 7. 

17 Q. Wherein did Saul discover his ill-will to him t 

A. He threw a javelin at him, and often attempted to 
kill him, 1 Sam. xviii. 21. 

18 Q. Did not Saul marry his second daughter Michal to 
him] 

A. Yes, but he required of him the slaughter of an hun- 
dred Philistines instead of her dowry, hoping that David 
himself would be slain in the attempt, 1 Sam. xviii. 17 — 30. 

19 Q. Who then were the friends of David, when the 
king was his enemy ? 

A. All the people of Israel loved him, and so did Jona- 
than, the son of Saul, who screened him often from his 
father's malice, 1 Sam. xviii. 5, and chap. xix. 2. 

20 Q. But how could David escape so long, when Saul 
ordered his servants to kill him ? 

A. He fled from place to place in the land of Israel, and 
was hunted like a partridge on the mountains, till at last 
he was forced to hide himself twice among the Philistines, 
1 Sam. xxi. 10, and chap. xxvi. 20, and xxvii. 1. 

21 Q. What did he do there? 

A. When he was at Gath the first time, he feigned him- 
self mad, lest Achish the king of Gath should kill him, 
1 Sam. xx. 12, 13. 

22 Q. How did David save his father's house from Saul's 
rage? 

A. He desired the king of Moab to let his father and his 
mother dwell there, but he himself went into the land of 
Judah, 1 Sam. xxii. 1 — 5. 

23 Q. How did Saul further manifest his rage against 
David? 



82 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, 

A. He slew fourscore and five persons of the priests of 
the Lord, because he supposed they had concealed David, 
and did not tell the king where he was, 1 Sam. xxii. 17, 
18. 

24 Q. Had David any army under his command at that 
time ? 

A. Yes, he had gathered together about four hundred 
men, who grew in a little time to six hundred, 1 Sam. xxii. 
2, and chap, xxiii. 13. 

25 Q. Did David fight with Saul all this time! 

A. No, he avoided him, and fled from him continually, by 
shifting his place whensoever Saul pursued him ; and at 
last was forced to go into the land of the Philistines again, 
1 Sam. xxiii, and chap, xxiv, and xxvii. 

26 Q. Did David never attempt to kill Saul? 

A. No, but he spared his life twice when he had it in 
his power to kill him, 1 Sam. xxiv. 7, 8, 10, 11, and chap, 
xx vi. 11, 12, &c. 

27 Q. Had this kindness of David no influence to soften 
the heart of Saul toward him ? 

A. Yes, it did for the present, but Saul's envy and malice 
were so rooted in his heart, that they prevailed above all 
the principles of kindness and gratitude, 1 Sam. xxiv. 16 — , 
21, and chap. xxvi. 1 — 3, and xxvii. 1. 

28 Q. What became of Saul at last? 

A. The Philistines invaded Israel, and Saul was in great 
distress, because God gave him no directions, nor answered 
him by dreams, nor by the priests nor prophets, 1 Sam. 
xxv iii. 4 — 6. 

29 Q. What did Saul do then? 

A. He inquired of a woman who had a familiar spirit, 
and there he was told by an apparition of something in the 
shape of Samuel, that he and his sons should die on the 
morrow, 1 Sam. xxviii. 8, 19. 

30 Q. Did this come to pass ? 

A. Yes, the Philistines slew several of his sons, and 
wounded him sorely in the battle, and then he fell upon 
his own sword, and slew himself, 1 Sam. xxxi. 3, 4. 

31 Q. Where was David all this while ? 

A. He was fled the second time tc Achish, king of Gath, 
and he had been just then employed in destroying the 
Amalekites, who had plundered the citv of Ziklag, where 



UNDER SAUL AND DAVID. 83 

he dwelt, and had carried away his wives, 1 Sam. xxx. 
16—20. 

32 Q. Did not David offer his service to the Philistines 1 
A. Yes, but he always avoided fighting against the Isra- 
elites ; and besides, the Lords of the Philistines at this time 
would not suffer him to continue in their army, which was 
done by the kind Providence of God, that David might not 
fight against Israel, 1 Sam. xxvii. 8 — 11, and chapter xxxix. 
4, and 2 Sam. i. 2. 

33 Q. What did David do upon the death of Saul ? 

A. He made a very affecting elegy upon him and Jona- 
than his son, and went up to Hebron, a city of Judah, by 
God's direction, where the men of Judah made him their 
king, 2 Sam. ii. 1 — 4. 

34 Q. Who reigned then over the rest of the tribes of 
Israel? 

A. Ishbosheth, another of the sons of Saul, 2 Sam. ii. 
8, 9. 

35 Q. How came Ishbosheth to lose the kingdom ? 

A. He quarrelled with Abner, the general of his army, 
whereupon Abner joined with David ; and after this, two 
of Ishbosheth's own servants wickedly slew him in his bed, 
for which crime David punished them. 2 Sam. ii. 7 — 10, 
17, 18, and chap. iv. 5, 7. 

36 Q. How long did David reign in Hebron 1 

A. Seven years and a half; and then all Israel came to 
him, and chose him for their king, and brought him up to 
Jerusalem, 2 Sam. v. 1 — 6. 

37 Q. What was the first thing David did when he came 
to Jerusalem 1 

A. He took the strong hold of Zion from the Jebusites, 
who had held it to that day, and called it the city of David, 
2 Sam. v. 6—9. 

38 Q. Where was the ark of God all this while ? 

A. At Kirjath-jearim, whence David now fetched it up, 
by God's direction, to Jerusalem in triumph, and placed it 
in Zion, 2 Sam. vi. 1, 17. 1 Chron. xiii. 5, 6. 

39 Q. What was David's pious design toward the ark of 
God! 

A. He had a mind to build a house for the ark of God, 
which had hitherto dwelt in curtains, 2 Sam. vii. 2, 3. 

40 Q. Did God encourage him to proceed in it? | 



84 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, 

A. No, God did not encourage him, because he had shed 
much blood ; but he promised that he should have a son, 
who should build him a house, 2 Sam. vii. 2, 3. 

41 Q. Had David no wars after this ? 

A. Yes, he had many battles, and was victorious over his 
enemies round about him ; namely, the Philistines and Moab- 
ites, the Syrians and Edomites, &c. 2 Sam. viii. 1 — 14. 

42 Q. How did David govern Israel 1 

A. He executed judgment and justice among all the peo- 
ple, 2 Sam. viii. 15. 

43 Q. What were the chief blemishes of David's life 1 
A. His adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and 

his pride in numbering the people of Israel. Probably 
God forbid the numbering of Israel lest they might become 
vain of their own strength, and be tempted to rely upon it 
against their enemies. 

44 Q. How came David to fall in love with Bathsheba 1 
A. David from the top of his house happened to see her 

washing herself, and sent for her, and defiled her, 2 Sam. 
xi. 4. 

45 Q. What aggravation attended this sin 1 

A. Besides the heinous crime of adultery, here was vile 
ingratitude and base carriage towards Uriah, who at that 
time was abroad fighting for him against the Ammonites, 
2 Sam. xi. 6. 

46 Q. How did he try to hide it from Uriah, and the 
world ? 

A. When he could not persuade Uriah to go to his own 
house, he sent an order to Joab his general, that he should 
set Uriah in the hottest place of the battle, and retire from 
him, and leave him to be slain, 2 Sam. xi 15. 

47 Q. What followed upon the death of Uriah, which 
David had thus contrived ? 

A. David added Bathsheba to the rest of his wives, and 
she bare him a son, 2 Sam. xi. 27. 

48 Q. How was David convinced of his sin ? 

A. By an ingenious parable of Nathan the prophet, con- 
cerning a rich man who robbed his neighbour of an ewe- 
lamb, though he had large flocks of his own, 2 Sam. xii. 1 — 8. 

49 Q. How did God testify his displeasure against David 
for his sin J 

A. He struck the child that was born with sickness and 



UNDER SAUL AND DAVID. 85 

death, and threatened David that the sword should never 
depart from his house, and that his own wives should be 
publicly abused, 2 Sam. xii. 9 — 14. 

Note. David testified his deep repentance for this sin in the fifty- 
first Psalm, and perhaps also in some others ; yet God saw proper to 
punish him severely, because he had given the enemies of God occa- 
sion to blaspheme, and as a striking exemplification to the church in 
ail future ages of his abhorrence of sin, 2 Sam. xii. 14. 

50. Q. What were some of the chief troubles that actual- 
ly came on David's family on this account 1 

A. The troubles that he met with frpm three of his sons, 
namely, Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah. 

51 Q. What was the trouble he met with from Amnon 3 
A. Amnon defiled his sister Tamar by force, upon which 

Absalom slew him, and then fled out of the land for fear of 
justice, 2 Sam. xiii. 14, 28, 37. 

52 Q. Did Absalom never return again 1 

A. Yes, Absalom returned after two years, when David 
was pacified, and by his subtle carriage he raised a rebellion 
against the king, his father, and made himself king, 2 Sam. 
ch. xiv, and xv. 

53. Q. What followed upon this wicked conduct of Ab- 
salom ? 

A. David being forced to flee from Jerusalem, Absalom 
entered the city, and defiled his father's concubines publicly, 
2 Sam. xv. 14, and xvi. 21. 

54 Q. Who was Absalom's chief counsellor in this rebel- 
lion 1 

A. Ahithophel, who when be saw that his counsel, to pur- 
sue and attack David without delay, was not followed, anti- 
cipated the destruction of the cause of Absalom, and hence 
he went home and hanged himself, 2 Sam. xvii. 23. 

55 Q. What became of Absalom at last 1 

A. As he was riding under an oak in the day of battle, 
he was caught by the hair of the head, and hung between 
heaven and earth, where Joab, David's general, found him, 
and stabbed him to the heart, 2 Sam. xviii. 9 — 14, and thus 
put an end to his rebellion and his life. 

56 Q. What was the other remarkable crime of David, 
besides his abuse and murder of Uriah? 

A. The pride of his heart in numbering all the people of 
/ H 



86 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, 

the tribes of Israel, that he might know how great a tying 
he was, 2 Sam. xxiv. 2. 

57 Q. How was he punished for this sin 1 

A. God gave him leave to choose one of these three pu- 
nishments, either seven years' famine, or three months of 
war, or three days' pestilence, 2 Sam. xxiv. 13. 

58 Q. Which did David choose? 

A. The famine or the pestilence, rather than war; for 
he chose rather to fall into the hands of God than of man, 
2 Sam. xxiv. 14. 

59 Q. Which of these two judgments did God send upon 
the land 1 ' 

A. A pestilence that destroyed seventy thousand men in 
three days' time, ver. 15. 

60. Q. How was this pestilence stopped 1 

A. When David saw the angel of the Lord stand be- 
tween heaven and earth, having a drawn sword in his hand 
stretched out over Jerusalem, he and the elders of Israel 
fell upon their faces, clothed in sackcloth ; and David con- 
fessed his crime, and prayed that the anger of God might 
fall on himself, rather than on the people, 1 Chron. xxl 
15, 16. 

61 Q. How did God manifest his acceptance of him? 

A. He bid the prophet Gad order David to build an altar, 
and offer sacrifices on that very spot of ground on the thresh- 
ing-floor of Oman ; and when David prayed, fire came from 
heaven and consumed the sacrifices, 1 Chron. xxi. 21, 26. 

62 Q. What was the trouble that David met with from 
his son Adonijah 1 

A. When David was old, Adonijah set himself up for king, 
1 Kings i. 1, 5. 

63 Q. How came Adonijah to be so insolent 1 

A. His father humoured him too much all his life, and 
never displeased him, ver. 6. 

64 Q. What did David do under this trouble 1 

A. He proclaimed Solomon, the son of Bathsheba, king, 
in his own life-time ; and Zadok the priest ; and Nathan the 
prophet, anointed him king of Israel, ver. 34, 38, 39. 

65 Q. Why was Solomon preferred, when he was a youn- 
ger brother 1 

A. Because God chose him to the kingdom, and gave 
David notice of it, 1 Chron. xxii. 8 — 10, and xxviii. 5 — 7. 



UNDER SAUL AND DAVID. 87 

66 Q. What became of Adonijah ? 

A. He submitted to Solomon, who spared him for that 
time, though for a new fault he put him to death afterwards, 
ver. 50, 53, and ii. 2, 24. 

67 Q. How long did David reign in all ? 

A. Forty years, and then he died in his bed in peace, 
1 Kings ii. 10, 11. 

68 Q. What were David's remarkable characters, besides 
that of a musician, a warrior, and king ? 

A. He was a great poet and a prophet, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2. 

69 Q. Wherein did his skill in poetry appear ? 

A. Not only in his admirable elegy on Saul and Jonathan, 
but on several occasions; he wrote the most part of the book 
of Psalms, which are the finest pieces of ancient poetry, 
and he was called The sweet Psalmist of Israel, 2 Sam. 
xxiii. 1. 

70 Q. Wherein doth it appear that he had the gift of 
prophecy ? 

A. Because in these psalms written by divine inspiration, 
there are many things evidently foretold concerning Christ, 
Luke xxiv. 44. Acts ii. 29, 30. 

• 71 Q. What further evidences are there of his being a 
prophet ? 

£. He had a particular revelation made to him by the 
spirit of God, of the pattern of the temple, which Solomon 
his son was to build, and of the orders of the priests and Le- 
vites, and of several things relating to the worship of God, 
which he gave to his son Solomon, 1 Chron. xXviii. 11, 
13, 19. 

72 Q. What did David do towards the building of this 
temple before his death T 

A. He made a vast preparation of gold and silver, and 
jewels, and other materials, and gave the pattern of every 
thing to his son Solomon, as he received it of God, I Chron, 
xxii. 5, 14, and chap, xxviii. 11, 19, and xxix. 2. 



88 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, 



CHAPTER X. 

Of the reign of Solomon and Rehoboam over all Israel, and 
the division of the nation, into two kingdoms. 

1 Q. What was the general character of Solomon 1 

A. He was the wisest of men, 1 Kings iii. 12, and chap, 
iv. 31. 

2 Q. Wherein did his wisdom towards God appear 1 

A. In that he asked not long life, nor riches, nor ho- 
nours, but understanding and knowledge to govern so great 
a people, 1 Kings iii. 7, &c, 

3 Q. What was the first instance of his wisdom in the 
government ? 

A. His deciding the quarrel between two women who 
contended about a living child, and giving the child to the 
true mother, 1 Kings iii. 16, 28. 

4 Q. How did he find out the true mother 1 

A. He commanded the child to be divided into two, that 
each woman might have half; then the tenderness and love 
of the true mother appeared, in yielding up her pretensions 
to it, rather than see it divided, 1 Kings iii. 25. 

5 Q. What special care did Solomon take for the wor- 
ship of God ? 

A. He built that temple for which David had made so 
large a preparation. It was a most glorious palace, built of 
cedar and fir, and olive-wood, and hewn stone, with most 
amazing expense of gold and silver, and brass, and precious 
stones, both for the adorning of the house itself, and for the 
holy vessels thereof, 1 Kings chap, vi, and vii. He built 
also two distinct courts about it, one for the people of Israel, 
and one for the priests, all which were called The Temple, 
2 Kings xxiii. 12, and 2 Chron. iv. ix. 

Note. In this temple of Solomon there does not seem to be any 
court of the Gentiles, but only the court of the priests, in which the 
house of God or sanctuary stood, and the court of the people, to which 
all Israel resorted, nor can I find the Gentiles forbidden by any ex- 
press word of God. See 2 Chron. vi. 32. One was the outer court, 
and the other was the inner court, 2 Chron. iv. 9, and 1 Kings vi. 30. 
Nor were the people excluded from the inner court See 2 Chron. 
xxiii. 10. In the second temple, which was built by Zerubbabel, after 



UNDER SOLOMON AND REHOBOAM. 89 

the captivity, we do not read of any court of the Gentiles at the building 
, of it. But in following years, when there were more frequent commu- 
nications and transactions with Gentiles, there was a partition made, 
called Chel, to divide them from the Jews, and the other part to the 
outer court was left for the Gentiles. In the temple as repaired by 
Herod, there was a court made on purpose for the Gentiles, and those 
Jews which were unclean. This division does not appear to be of 
divine appointment, though it must be confessed, the partition wall in 
Eph. ii. 14. seems to refer to it. 

6 Q. In what form did he build it 1 

A. In imitation of the tabernacle of Moses and the court 
thereof, but with vast and universal improvement in the 
grandeur, riches, and magnificence of it, by the pattern that 
David his father received from God, and gave to him, 1 
Chron. xxii. 5, and chap, xxviii. 11, 19. 

7 Q. On what spot of ground did he build it ? 

A. On mount Moriah, not very far from mount Zion in 
Jerusalem : It was the place where Abraham was called to 
offer his son Isaac ; and where God appeared to David, when 
he stopped the pestilence, 2 Chron. iii. 1, and Gen. xxii. 2. 
and gave him a miraculous token of his acceptance, by fire 
from heaven consuming his sacrifice, 1 Chron. xxi. 20. 

Note. Though the temple was built on mount Moriah, yet the 
name of Zion is still preserved by the following holy writers, as the 
place of the sanctuary; partly because David had written so much 
in his psalms concerning Zion, where the ark and tabernacle stood 
in his days, and made the name familiar to the people ; and part- 
ly because Zion was literally the city of David ; and in a typical 
sense, the city of residence of Christ. And indeed Zion and Moriah 
may be accounted but two distinct heads of the same mountain ; and 
though there was a valley between them, Solomon joined them by a 
bridge, that he might easily pass from his palace in Zion to the tem- 
ple. Josephus makes mention of it more than once. 

8 Q. How did Solomon dedicate this temple to God 1 

A. By assembling all the men of Israel, by bringing 
thither the ark and the holy things from Zion, by a devout 
prayer to God, by music and praises, by a feast of seven 
days, and a vast number of sacrifices, 1 Kings viii, and 2 
Chron. chap, vi, and vii. 

9 Q. In what manner did God show his approbation of 
it? 

A. He filled the house with a cloud of glory, to repre- 
sent his taking possession of it ; he sent fire down from 
heaven to consume the sacrifices ; and he appeared in the 
h2 



90 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, 

night to Solomon, and assured him he had heard his grayer, 
and chosen that place for a house of sacrifice to himself, 
2Chron. vii. 1—3,12. 

10 Q. Wherein did God bless the reign of Solomon 1 
A. By giving him prodigious treasures and magnificent 

state, and spreading the fame of his greatness and wisdom 
over all nations, 1 Kings x. 

11 Q. What peculiar honours were done to him on this 
account 1 

A. The princes round about him coveted his friendship, 
and gave him their assistance and many presents, and the 
queen of Sheba came to visit him, 1 Kings ix, and x. 

12 Q. What satisfaction did she find in this visit? 

A. She was astonished at the sight of his grandeur and 
wisdom, and confessed that the one half of it was not told 
her, 1 Kings x. 1, 10. 

13 Q. Wherein did Solomon displease God afterwards ? 
A. In process of time he forgot his great obligations to 

God; he took wives and concubines in great multitudes, 
and that out of the idolatrous nations ; and by them his 
heart was so far led away after other gods, that he built 
places of worship for them very near Jerusalem, and offered 
sacrifices to them. See 1 Kings xi. 1, 9. 

14 Q. How did God punish him for it 1 

A. He stirred up several enemies against him, and par- 
ticularly Jeroboam, his own servant. See 2 Kings xi. 14, 
23, 26. 

15 Q. What was Jeroboam's own pretence for disturb- 
ing the government 7 

A. The building of some expensive palaces for Pharaoh's 
daughter, who was his queen, and the raising heavy taxes 
for that and other buildings, 1 Kings ix. 24, and chap. xi. 
27, and xii. 4. 

Note. Jeroboam doth not appear to charge Solomon with pro- 
moting idolatry, or with breaking the laws of God in divine worship : 
for he himself did so afterwards, when he was king of Israel ; which 
was a high provocation in the eyes of God, both in Solomon and 
Jeroboam. 

16 Q. And how far did God encourage Jeroboam in this 
opposition to Solomon 1 

A. Ahijah the prophet, being sent of God, caught hold of 
Jeroboam's garment when he met him in the field, and rent 



UNDER SOLOMON AND REHOBOAM. 91 

it into twelve pieces, and gave ten of them to Jeroboam, 
1 Kings xi. 29, &c. 

17 Q. What was the meaning of this? 

A. The prophet told him, that God had given him ten of 
the tribes of Israel, and had left the posterity of Solomon 
one tribe, that is, Judah and Benjamin, which were after- 
wards united into one, under the name of Jews, 1 Kings xi. 
31, and chap. xii. 20, 21, and 2 Chron. xi. 12. 

18 Q. Was this fulfilled in Solomon's days? 

A. No, for it pleased God to withhold these calamities 
from the house of Solomon till the days of his son, ver. 23. 

19 Q. Did Solomon ever repent of his sins that pro- 
voked the anger of God against him 1 

A. It is generally supposed that he did, and that the book 
of Ecclesiastes was written by him after his repentance, 
because he there describes the vanity of every labour and 
every enjoyment under the sun, and suras up all in the fear 
of God, and keeping his commandments, as the whole duty 
and chief interest of man. Eccles. chap. i. and ii, and chap, 
xii. 13, 14. 

20 Q. How long did Solomon reign 1 

A. Forty years; and though he had such a shameful 
number of wives and concubines, yet he left but one son 
behind him, whose name was Rehoboam, to succeed him in 
the kingdom of Israel, 1 Kings xi. 3, 43. 

21 Q. What was the character of Rehoboam ? 

A. Though Solomon had written so many excellent les- 
sons of morality and piety for his son in the book of Pro- 
verbs, and given him so many warnings; yet he followed 
evil courses ; and Solomon himself seems to intimate it in the 
book of Ecclesiastes, chap. ii. 19, who knoweth whether his 
son will be a wise man or a fool ? 

22 Q. What further occasion did Rehoboam give for the 
revolt of the tribes of Israel from him 1 

A. Upon the death of his father, and his accession to the 
throne, he despised the counsel of the old men, and heark- 
ened to the advice of rash young men ; he threatened the 
nation of Israel to make their yoke heavier than his father 
had done ; that is, to lay heavier taxes upon them, 1 Kings 
xii. 8, &c. 

23 Q,. What followed upon this threatening of king Re- 
hoboam ? 



92 OF THE KINGS OP ISRAEL. 

A. All the tribes of Israel, except Judah and Benjamin, 
made Jeroboam their king : and thus the nation was divided 
into two kingdoms, which were afterwards called the king- 
dom of Judah, and the kingdom of Israel, 1 Kings xii. 15, 
20. 2 Chron. xi. 11, 12. 



CHAPTER XL 
Of the Kings of Israel. 

1 Q. How many kings reigned over Israel after they 
were separated from Judah 1 

A. These nineteen, and not one of them were good; 
Jeroboam the first, Nadab, Baashah, Elah, Zimri, Omri, 
Ahab, Ahaziah, Jeboram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam 
the second, Zachariah, Shallum, Manahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, 
and Hoshea. 

2 Q. Who were the most remarkable among these kings 
of Israel? 

A. Jeroboam the first, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehu, Joash, 
Pekah, and Hoshea. 

3 Q. What was the chief character and crime of Jeroboam'? 
A. Instead of worshipping God who dwelt between the 

cherubs in the temple of Jerusalem, he made two golden 
images, which are called calves, and set them up in two dis- 
tant parts of the land of Israel, namely, Dan and Bethel, 
and taught the people to worship before them, 1 Kings xii. 
28—30. 
, 4. Q. What was the worship he appointed 1 

A. Something like the worship which God appointed at 
Jerusalem; with an altar, and priests, and sacrifices, and 
incense, ver. 32. 

5 Q. Wherein did it differ from the worship at Jerusalem 1 
A. Besides the forsaking of the temple, and the place 
which God appointed, he also made priests of the lowest of 
the people, instead of the sons of Levi, and ordained feasts 
at a different time from that which God had appointed, and 
set up the images of calves to represent the presence of 
God, ver. 23, 32, and 1 Kings xii. 25—33, and ch. xii. 13, 
and chap. 8, 9. 



OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 93 

Note. Here it is not to be supposed that Jeroboam forsook the 
God of Israel, and taught the people to worship mere calves : but only 
that he devised of his own heart other times and places, and other 
forms and circumstances of worship to be paid to the God of Israel ; 
and that by images or idols, which were probably the figures of the 
cherubs on the mercy-seat, where God dwelt ; but the scripture, in 
contempt, calls them calves. See Chap. V. Q. 37, and Chap. VII. Q 3. 
This worship is idolatry or the worship of other gods, and is strictly 
forbidden in the second commandment. The prophet Hoshea, who 
lived in the days of Jeroboam the second, the son of Joash, perpetu- 
ally rebukes this sin of idolatry, and inveighs against these idols, the 
calves, Hosea, i. 1, and chap. 4, 5, and chap. x. 5, and xiii. 2. 

6 Q. For what end did Jeroboam do this 3 

A. He feared, if the people went up frequently to sacri- 
fice at Jerusalem, they would be tempted to return again to 
Rehoboam, king of Judah, 1 Kings xii. ver. 26, 27, 28. 

7 Q. What visible token of displeasure did God manifest 
against this worship which Jeroboam set up ? 

A. He sent a prophet to the altar at Bethel, who foretold 
that a son of the house of David, Josiah by name, should burn 
the bones of Jeroboam's priests upon the altar, 1 Kings xiii. 
1,2. 

8 Q. What sign did the prophet give, that this prophecy 
should be fulfilled'? 

A. The prophet foretold that the altar should be rent 
asunder, and the ashes poured out, both of which were ful- 
filled immediately ; and Jeroboam's hand withered when he 
stretched it out to lay hold of the prophet, ver. 3, 4, &c. 
though at the prayer of the prophet, God restored it 
again. 

9 Q. What other token did God give of his anger against 
Jeroboam 1 

A. God threatened Jeroboam and his family with utter 
destruction, so that none of them should find a grave, be- 
sides Abijah his youngest son, because there were found in 
him some good inclinations towards the God of Israel, 1 
Kings xiv. 13. 

10 Q. Who was Omri 1 

A. The captain of the host of Israel, who was made king 
by the people when Zimri set up himself, 1 Kings xvi. 16. 

11 Q. What is recorded concerning Omri 1 

A. (1.) That he besieged Zimri his predecessor so close- 
ly in Tirzah, the royal city, that Zimri burnt himself and 
the palace together, and died. (2.) That he built Samaria 



94 OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 

for the royal city, on a hill. And, (3.) That he walked iv 
all the sinful ways of Jeroboam, ver. 17 — 28. 

12 Q. Who was Ahab, and what was his character 1 

A. Ahab was the son of Omri, who followed the wicked 
ways of his predecessors ; he sinned against God and man 
grievously, and provoked God beyond all who were before 
him, ver. 29, 33, and 1 Kings xxi. 25. 

13 Q. How did God signify his displeasure against Ahab? 
A. He sent Elijah the prophet to reprove him, and to fore- 

tel that there should neither be dew nor rain for several 
years, which accordingly came to pass, 1 Kings xvii. 1. 

14 Q. How was Elijah himself fed during this famine? 
A. He was commanded to hide himself by the brook 

Cherith, and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the 
morning and the evening, and he drank the water of the 
brook, ver. 5, 6. 

15 Q. Whither did the prophet go when the brook was 
dried up? 

A. God sent him to a woman of Zarephath near Sidon, to 
be maintained by her, when she had only a handful of meal 
in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse, 1 Kings xvii. 9, &c. 

16 Q. How could this maintain the woman, her son, and 
the prophet l 

A. God wonderfully increased the oil and the meal, so 
that the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of 
oil fail, till God sent rain upon the land, ver. 14, &c. 

17 Q. What further miracles did Elijah work in this wo- 
man's family, to prove that he was sent from God? 

A. When her son died, the prophet raised him to life 
again, ver. 21 — 24. 

18 Q. What special deliverance did God give Israel in 
the time of Ahab 1 

A. Though Ahab was so great a sinner, yet God made 
Israel victorious over the Syrians, who invaded them, be- 
cause Benhadad the king of Syria boasted, and blasphemed 
God, 1 Kings xx. 10,28. 

19 Q. What were some of the special sins of Ahab 
against God 7 

A. Besides the idolatry of the calves, he also set up the 
idol Baal ; he caused Israel to worship it, and by the influ- 
ence of his wife Jezebel, slew a great number of the pro- 
phets of the Lord, 1 Kings xviii. 



*y 



OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 95 

20 Q. Were any of the prophets of the Lord saved 1 

A. Obadiah, the governor of Allah's house hid a hundred 
of them in two caves, and fed them with bread and water, 
while Elijah fled wheresoever he could find a hiding-place, 
ver. 5, 6, 10. 

21 Q. How did Elijah bring about the destruction of 
Baal's prophets 1 

A. He boldly met Ahab, and bid him summon all Israel 
together, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, 
that a sacrifice might be offered to Baal and to Jehovah, and 
to make an experiment which was the true God 1 

22 Q. How did he convince the people that Jehovah was 
the true God 1 

A. Fire came from heaven and consumed Elijah's sacrifice, 
after he had poured great quantities of water upon it, which 
the prophets of Baal attempted in vain to procure on their 
altar, though they cut themselves with knives, and cried 
aloud to their God, 1 Kings xviii. 17 — 38. 

23 Q. What influence had this upon the people I 

A. They fell upon their faces, and acknowledged Jehovah 
to be the true God, and then, at the command of Elijah, the 
people slew all the prophets of Baal, ver. 39, 40. 

24. Q. How did God further manifest his approbation of 
this conduct of Elijah 1 - 

A. He immediately sent rain, and put an end to the 
famine, ver. 41, 45. 

25 Q. What was one of the most remarkable sins of Ahab 
against man ? 

A. He coveted the vineyard of Naboth, and by the help 
of false witnesses stoned Naboth to death for blasphemy, and 
took possession of his land, 1 Kings xxi. 5 — 14. 

26 Q. What was the manner of Ahab's death at last, 
after so wicked a life ? 

A. In opposition to the prophecy of Micaiah, he went to 
fight with the king of Syria, and received a mortal wound, 
1 Kings xxii. 34. 

27 Q. Wherein did the judgment of God against Ahab 
appear in his death 7 ? 

A. The dogs licked up his blood on that spot of ground 
where Naboth's blood was shed, according to the prophecy 
of Elijah, 1 Kings xxi. 19, and chap. xxii. 38. 

28 Q. What sort of a man was Ahaziah? 



96 OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 

A. Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, who succeeded him in his 
kingdom followed his wicked ways, 1 Kings xxii. 51. 

29 Q. What particular crimes of Ahaziah are recorded 7 
A. When he was sick he sent to inquire of Baalzebub, 

the god of Ekron, about his recovery ; and because Elijah 
reproved him for it, he sent three captains, each with fifty 
men, to make Elijah their prisoner, 2 Kings i. 1, 9. 

30 Q,. What did Elijah do on this occasion 1 

A. He brought down fire from heaven, which consumed 
the two first of them with their troops, but he spared the 
third upon his entreaty, and then went down with him to 
king Ahaziah, and told him that he should surely die, ver. 
9—16. 

31 Q. How did Elijah leave the world 1 

A. He was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, by a cha- 
riot and horses of fire, and left his mantle behind him, 
2 Kings ii. 

32 Q. Who succeeded Elijah in the office of prophet 1 
A. Elisha, who was with him when he was taken up to 

heaven, and had a double portion of the spirit of Elijah given 
him, ver. 9, 10. 

33 Q. What were some of the chief miracles and prophe- 
cies of Elisha ] 

A. (1.) He smote the waters of Jordan with Elijah's man- 
tle, saying, Where is the Lord God of Elijah ? And the 
waters divided for him to pass over. (2.) He cured the 
unwholesome water near Jericho, by casting salt into it. 
(3.) He cursed some children that mocked and reproached 
him, and there came two she bears out of the wood, and 
tore to pieces forty-two of them. (4.) He brought water in 
a time of drought to supply three armies, namely, those of 
Edom, Judah, and Israel. (5.) He increased the widow's 
pot of oil, that it was sufficient to pay her debts, and maintain 
her. (6.) He promised a son to the Shunamite woman who 
entertained him, who was before barren, and raised this son 
to life again when he died. (7.) He healed Naaman the 
Syrian of his leprosy, by bidding him to wash in Jordan. 
(8.) He pronounced the plague of leprosy on Gehazi, his 
own servant, for his covetousness and lying. (9.) He made 
the iron head of an ax float on the water, that it might be 
restored to its owner. (10.) He discovered the king of 
Syria's private counsels to the king of Israel, and smote his 



OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL, 97 

army with blindness. (11.) He foretold vast plenty on the 
morrow, in the midst of a siege and famine in Samaria. 
(12.) He foretold the death of Benhadad, the king of Syria, 
and that Hazael should succeed him, and treat Israel with 
cruelty. [See the second book of Kings, from the second 
to the eighth chapter.] 

34 Q. Who was Jehu, and how came he to the king- 
dom] 

A. Jehu was a captain, who was anointed king by the 
prophet whom Elisha sent for that purpose, according to the 
appointment of God and Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 16, and 2 Kings 
ix. 1, 2, &c. 

35 Q. What was the great work for which God raised up 
Jehu to the kingdom 1 

A To destroy the worship of Baal, and to bring the 
threatened judgments of God on the house of Ahab for their 
wickedness, ver. 7. 

36 Q,. How did Jehu execute this bloody work upon the 
house of Ahab? ^ 

A. These three ways : (1.) He shot Jehoram, the son of 
Ahab, who was then king, with an arrow, and cast him upon 
the land of Naboth, whom Ahab slew. (2.) He commanded 
Jezebel, the wicked and idolatrous queen-mother, to be 
thrown out of the window, and the dogs eat her up. (3.) He 
ordered the seventy remaining sons of Ahab to be slain in 
Samaria, and their heads to be brought to him in baskets, 
2 Kings chap, ix, and x. 

37 Q. How did he destroy the worship of Baal? 

A. He gathered the prophets of Baal and his priests and 
his worshippers, together into his temple, under pretence 
of a great sacrifice to Baal ; and then commanded them all 
to be slain with the sword, and the image to be burnt, and 
the temple to be destroyed, ver. 18 — 28. 

38 Q. Did Jehu continue to obey God in all things ? 

A. No, for though he executed the vengeance of God 
against Ahab and the worshippers of Baal, yet he maintained 
the idolatry of Jeroboam, namely, the calves of Dan and 
1 Bethel, ver. 29, 30.* 

39 Q. Who was Joash ? 

* Jehu was a proud, ambitious, and cruel man, and merely used 
as the voluntary instrument of executing the Lord's righteous judg- 
ments upon apostate Israel. 

I 



98 OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. 

A. He was the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, and he 
reigned over Israel, 2 Kings xiii. 10. 

40 Q. What is remarkable in his conduct ] 

A. When Elisha was upon his death-bed, he came down 
to see him, and wept over him, yet he departed not from the 
sins of Jeroboam, ver. 14. 

41 Q. What did he do for the good of Israeli 

A. According to the prophecy of dying Elisha, he smote 
the Syrians thrice, who had oppressed Israel, in the days of 
his father, ver. 15, 19, 25. 

42 Q. Is there any thing of moment recorded concerning 
Elisha after his death ! 

A. They buried a man in the year following in the sepul- 
chre of Elisha, and as soon as he touched the bones of Elisha, 
he revived and stood upon his feet, ver. 21. 

43 Q. What did Joash do against Judah 1 

A. When Amaziah king of Judah provoked him to war, 
he routed the army of Judah, and took the king prisoner : he 
broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and plundered the house 
of the Lord, and the king's house, of all the gold and silver 
vessels, 2 Kings xiv. 8 — 14. 

44 Q. Was there any considerable thing fell out in the 
reign of Pekah 1 

A. This Pekah joined with the king of Syria to invade 
Judah, but he was repulsed. In his days Tiglath-Pileser, 
king. of Assyria, took many cities in Galilee, and carried 
many of the people captives to Assyria, 2 Kings xiv. 29, and 
chap. xvi. 5 — 9. 

45 Q. Who was Hoshea, and what is recorded of him ? 
A. He was the last king of Israel ; he slew Pekah, and 

made himself king, 2 Kings xv. 30. 

46 Q. How came the kingdom to end in him ? 

A. In his days Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, took the 
city of Samaria, bound Hoshea the king in prison, carried 
multitudes of Israel captives into Assyria, and distributed 
them into several distinct countries, from which they have 
never returned to this day, 2 Kings xviii. 1 — 6, 23. 

47 Q. What provoked Shalmaneser to do this 1 

A. Hoshea had submitted to him, and afterwards plotted 
and rebelled against him, ver. 3, 4. 

48 Q. What provoked God to punish Israel thus 1 

A. The people of Israel, with all their kings after their 



! 



OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 99 

separation from the house of David, had been guilty of 
continual idolatry, in opposition to the many precepts and 
warnings of God, by the writings of Moses, and the voice 
of all the prophets, ver. 7 — 23. 

49 Q. What became of Samaria, and the other cities of 
Israel, when the people were driven out of them? 

A. Several of the Heathen nations were placed there, 
and each worshipped their own gods and idols ; where- 
fore the Lord sent lions amongst them, and destroyed many 
of them, ver. 24—31. 

50 Q. What was done upon this occasion to appease the 
anger of God, and save the people from the lions ? 

A. The king of Assyria sent a Jewish priest thither, to 
teach them the worship of the God of Israel, ver. 27. 

51 Q. What was the effect of this conduct of the king 
of Assyria I 

A. These nations feared the God of Israel, and yet they 
could not lay aside their own idolatries, for they continued 
to serve their own graven images also in many following 
generations, ver. 41. 

52 Q. But did they always continue in this mixed kind 
of religion 1 

A. In process of time they forsook their idols, and pro- 
fessed to worship the true God only, and submit themselves 
to the Jewish religion, so as to receive the five books of 
Moses. They had a temple of their own built on mount 
Gerrizim, and in the New Testament are called Samaritans, 
John iv. 9— -27. 



CHAPTER XII. 
Of the Kings of Judah. 

1 Q. How many kings and rulers reigned over Judah 1 
A. Twenty; namely, Rehoboam, Ahijah, Asa, Jehosha- 

phat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athalia the queen, Joash, Amaziah, 
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Ammon, Jo- 
siah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. 

2 Q. Were all of these rulers of Judah also great sin- 
ners, as well as the kings of Israel 1 



100 OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 

A. A few of them were very religious, some very wicked, 
and others of an indifferent or mixed character. 

3 Q. What fell out in Rehoboam's reign after the ten 
tribes had made Jeroboam their king? 

A. When Rehoboam raised a great army out of Judah 
and Benjamin, to recover the ten tribes, God by his prophet 
forbad them to proceed, 1 Kings xii. 22—25. 

4 Q. Were there no wars then between Judah and Israel'? 
A. Yes, in the following times there were bloody wars 

between them. 

5 Q. How did the people of Judah behave themselves 
under the government of Rehoboam'? 

A. They fell into idolatry and shameful sins, whereupon 
God was angry, and Shishack, king of Egypt, plundered 
the temple and the king's house of their treasures, in the 
fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, 1 Kings xiv. 25. So short- 
lived was the supreme grandeur and glory of the Jewish 
church and state. 

6 Q. Did Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, do any thing re- 
markable in his reign ? 

A. He made a speech, and pleaded against Israel, when 
Jeroboam led them to war against him ; he reproved them 
for their departure from the true worship of God, and from 
the house of David ; and when they would not hearken, 
but set upon him in battle, he and his army cried unto the 
Lord, and shouted, and slew five hundred thousand men. — 
A brave example of divine success ! 2 Chron. xiii. 4 — 17. 

7 Q. What is recorded concerning Asa, the son of Abi- 
jah, and king of Judah 1 

A. That he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, 
and destroyed the idols which had been set up in the land, 
2 Chron. xiv. 1 — 5. 

Q. What token of favour did God show him ] 

A. When he called upon the Lord, and trusted in him, 
he defeated the army of the Ethiopians, who came against 
him, though they were a thousand thousands, ver. 9 — 15. 

9 Q. Did Asa continue all his days to fear the Lord? 

A. In his old age he fell into distrust of God, and he gave 
the treasure that remained in the house of God, and in the 
king's house, to the king of Syria, to guard and help him 
against Baasha the king of Israel ; and he imprisoned the 
prophet who reproved him for it, 2 Chron. xvi. 1 — 10. 



OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 101 

10 Q. What is remarkable in Asa's death 1 

A. That in the disease of his feet (which is supposed to 
be the gout) he sought not to the Lord, but only to the phy- 
sicians: and he slept with his fathers, ver. 11 — 13. 

11 Q. How did his son Jehoshaphat behave himself in 
the kingdom ? 

A. He walked in the first and best ways of his father 
David, and God was with him, 2 Chron. xviii. 3. 

12 Q. Wherein did Jehoshaphat more particularly disco- 
ver his piety and goodness ? 

A. He appointed Levites and priests throughout all the 
cities of Judah, to teach the law of the Lord ; and he set 
judges in the land, with a solemn charge to do justice 
without bribery, 2 Chron. xvii. 7 — 9, and chap. xix. 5 — 11. 

13 Q. Wherein did God manifest his special favou? to 
Jehoshaphat ! 

A. God gave him very great treasures, and the fear of 
the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms round about Judah, so 
that for many years they made no war upon him, 2 Chron. 
xvii. 10—19. 

14 Q. Wherein did he offend God? 

A. In joining in alliance with Ahab the wicked king of 
Israel, whereby he was in great danger of being slain in 
a battle against the Syrians, 2 Chron. xviii. 1, 31, and chap, 
xix. 2. 

15 Q. When Moab and Ammon joined their forces 
against Jehoshaphat, how was he delivered from them 1 

A. He proclaimed a fast through the land, and in the 
midst of the people he prayed earnestly to the Lord, and 
when he went out to battle he appointed the singers be- 
fore the army, to sing- praises to the Lord, 2 Chron. xx. 1, 
21. 

16 Q. What was the effect of this pious practice ? 

A. When they began to sing and pray, his enemies fell 
upon one another till they were all slain, ver. 22 — 29. 

17 Q. Did Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, imitate his 
father's government in piety ? 

A. By no means ; for he slew all his own brethren. He 
walked in the ways of Ahab king of Israel, and took his 
daughter Athaliah to wife, 2 Chron. xxi. 1 — 7. 

18 Q. How did God testify his displeasure against Jeho- 
ram? 

i2 



102 OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 

A. He smote Jehoram with such an incurable distemper, 
that his bowels fell out, and he died of sore diseases, ver. 
15—19. 

19 Q. Who succeeded Jehoram in the kingdom ? 

A. Ahaziah his youngest son, for all his eldest were 
slain in the camp by the Arabians, 2 Chron. xii. 1. 

20 Q. What was the behaviour and the fate of Ahaziah 
king of Judah ? 

A. He followed the evil practices of the house of Ahab, 
by the persuasion of his mother Athaliah, who was the grand 
daughter of Omri ; and when he went out with Jehoram the 
king of Israel, against Jehu, he was slain by Jehu, 2 Chron. 
xxii. 1 — 9. 

21 Q. Who succeeded to the throne of Judan, when 
Ahaziah was dead ? 

A. Athaliah his mother seized the kingdom, and destroyed 
all the seed-royal of the house of Judah ; except Joash, the 
son of Ahaziah, an infant of a year old, who was hid in the 
temple, by his aunt the high priest's wife, 2 Chron. xxii. 2, 
10—12. 

22 Q. How did Athaliah reign? 

A. As she counselled her son Ahaziah before, so she her- 
self practised the idolatry of the house of Ahab, 2 Chron. 
xxii. 3, 17, and chap. xxiv. 7. 

23 Q. How was Athaliah deposed ? 

A. Jehoiada the high-priest stirred up the captains of the 
army, the Levites, and the chief of the people against her. 
He set Joash on the throne when he was ten years old, 
anointed and proclaimed him king, then ordered the guards 
to slay Athaliah, and destroyed the worship of Baal, 2 Chron. 
xxiii. 1 — 15. 

24 Q. What was the conduct of Joash in his govern- 
ment? 

A. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord 
all the days of Jehoiada the priest, who was his uncle ; he 
repaired the temple, and the vessels thereof, and restored 
the worship of God, 2 Chron. xxiv. 1 — 15. 

25 Q. How did Joash behave after Jehoiada's death? 

A. He was persuaded to change the worship of God for 
idols, and most ungratefully slew Zechariah, the son of Je- 
hoiada, because he reproved the idolatry of the people, 
2 Chron. xxiv. 17—22, Matt, xxiii. 35. 



OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 103 

26 Q. In what manner did God punish him for his crime? 

A. He sent an army of the Syrians against him, who pil- 
laged the country ; he smote him also with sore diseases, 
and at last his own servants slew him on his bed, 
ver. 23—26. 

27 Q. How did Amaziah the son-of Joash reign? 

A. At first he seemed to work righteousness, and he 
hearkened to the voice of God and his prophets ; but after- 
wards, gaining a victory over the Edomites, he learnt to 
worship the gods of Edom, 2 Chron. xxv. 1 — 16. 

28 Q. How came Amaziah to meet his ruin and hi3 
death? 

A. Being puffed up with his success against Edom, he 
challenged the king of Israel to battle, and was routed 
shamefully, and was slain at last by a conspiracy of his own 
people, 2 Chron. xxv. 17 — 23. 

29 Q. What was the character and reign of Uzziah the 
king] 

A. He was made king at sixteen years old, in the room 
of his father Amaziah ; he sought after God in the days of 
Zechariah the prophet, and God prospered his arms against 
all his enemies, and made his name great, 2 Chr. xxvi. 1 — 15. 

Note. This was several hundred years before that Zechariah who 
prophesied after the captivity. 

30 Q. Wherein did he provoke God afterwards? 

A. His heart was lifted up by his prosperity, and he as- 
sumed the priest's office, and burnt incense in the temple, 
though the priests opposed him, ver. 16. 

31 Q. VVhat was his punishment for this crime? 

A. While he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, 
the leprosy rose up in his forehead, and he continued a leper 
till his death, ver. 19. 

32 Q. Is there any thing very remarkable in the reign 
of Jotham, the son of Uzziah? 

A. He was a good king, and God blessed his arms, so 
that he brought the Ammonites under tribute, 2 Chron. 
xxvii. 1 — 6. 

33. Q. HowdidAhaz, the son of Jotham, behave himself? 

A. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, made 
images for Baal, and offered his children in sacrifice by fire, 
after the abominations of the heathen, 2 Chron. xxviii. 1 — 4. 



104 OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 

34 Q. How did God show his displeasure against Ahaz ? 
A. His land was invaded by the king of Syria, and by 

the king of Israel ; multitudes of his people were slain, and 
and many captives were carried to Damascus, and to Sama- 
ria, though the Israelites restored their captives again at the 
word of the prophet Obed, ver. 5 — 15. 

35 Q. What further iniquities of iVhaz are recorded ? 
A. That he set aside the brazen altar which was before 

the Lord, and set up another in the court of the temple, ac- 
cording to the pattern of an altar he had seen at Damascus, 
and at last fell in with the idolatry of the heathen nations, 
2 Kings xvi. 10. 2 Chron. xxviii. 

36 Q. What was one particular aggravation of his 
crimes 1 

A. That even in the time of his distress he sinned the 
more against God ; and because God did not help him, he 
sacrificed to the gods of Damascus : he cut in pieces the ves- 
sels of the house of God, shut up the doors of the temple, 
and set up idols in Jerusalem, and through all the land, 
2 Chron. xxxviii. 22 — 25. 

37 Q. Did Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, continue in the 
sins of his father ] 

A. No, but he made a great reformation, not only in 
Judah, but also in Ephraim and Manasseh ; he broke the 
images, cut down their groves, destroyed their altars, re- 
paired the temple, and restored the worship of the true God 
there, 2 Chron. xxix, and xxxi. 

38 Q. What peculiar instance did he give of his zeal 
against all manner of idolatry ! 

A. He broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had 
made in the wilderness, because the people burnt incense to 
it, 1 Kings xviii. 4. 

39 Q. In what manner did he keep the passover? 

A. He sent to all Israel, as well as to Judah, to invite 
them to keep the passover at Jerusalem, according to the 
appointment of God, 2 Chron. xxx. 

Though Hezekiah, king of Judah, began this reformation in the first 
year of his reign, yet it might not be carried to this height till the sixth 
or seventh year ; at which time there was no king in Israel, Hoshea 
the last king being taken and imprisoned by the king of Assyria, and a 
great part of the people carried into captivity, in the sixth year of He- 
zekrah's reign. See 2 Chron. xxix. 3, and 2 Kings xviii. 9 — 11. 



OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 105 

40 Q. Did the other tribes of Israel come at his invi- 
tation 7 

A. Some mocked the message, but many out of several 
tribes came to the passover, so that there was not the like 
since the time of Solomon, ver. 18 — 26. 

41 Q. Were all these people sufficiently purified to keep 
the passover? 

A. No, but at the prayer of Hezekiah, the Lord pardoned 
and accepted them, though several things in this passover 
were not exactly conformable to the holy institutions, ver. 
18—20. 

42 Q. Wherein did God show his acceptance of Hezeki- 
ah's zeal and piety 1 

A. God prospered him in his wars against his enemies, 
and enabled him to cast off the yoke of the king of Assyria, 
while he trusted in him, 2 Kings xviii. 7, 8. 

43 Q. What weakness was Hezekiah guilty of afterward, 
when Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invaded Judah 1 

A. He bribed him to depart, with gold and silver taken 
from the house of God, ver. 13—16. 

44 Q. What success had this conduct of Hezekiah ? 

A. Very ill success, for, some few years after, Sennache- 
rib sent an army to take Jerusalem, 2 Kings xviii. 9 — 13, 17. 

45 Q. What did Hezekiah do in this distress 1 

A. When Sennacherib sent Rabshakeh with blasphemies 
against God, and threatenings against the people, Hezekiah 
humbled himself greatly, and spread the railing letter before 
the Lord in the temple, and prayed earnestly to God for 
deliverance, 2 Kings xviii, and xix. 

46 Q. What was the success of Hezekiah's prayer 1 

A. Isaiah the prophet assured him of deliverance ; and 
the angel of the Lord slew in the camp of the Assyrians 
one hundred and fourscore and five thousand men at once, 
2 Kings xix. 20, 35. 

47 Q. What further favour did Hezekiah receive from God 1 
A. When he was sick near to death, God heard his 

prayer ; and assured him that he should live fifteen years 
longer, 2 Kings xx. 1 — 6. 

48 Q. What sign did God give him to confirm his faith in 
this promise ? 

A. The shadow returned backward ten degrees upon the 
dial of Ahaz, ver. 8—11. 



106 GF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 

49 Q. Wherein did Hezekiah misbehave himself after he 
had received all this mercy? 

A. In the vanity and pride of his heart, he showed the 
messengers of the King of Babylon all his treasures, ver. 
12, 13, and 2 Chron. xxiv. 31. 

50 Q. How was Hezekiah's pride punished 1 

A.. God told him by the prophet Isaiah, that all these trea- 
sures should be carried into Babylon ; but because Hezekiah 
humbled himself God deferred the execution of it till after 
his death, 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26. 

51 Q. What was the character and the government of 
his son Manasseh ] 

A. He forsook the good ways of his father Hezekiah : he 
brought in idolatry of many kinds, he worshipped the sun, 
moon, and stars ; he made his son pass through the fire; he 
used enchantments, and shed much innocent blood, 2 Kings 
xxi. 2 — 16. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 

52 Q. How were his transgressions punished ? 

A. The captains of the host of Assyria came up against 
Manasseh, took him among the thorns, bound him with fet- 
ters, and carried him to Babylon, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11. 

53 Q. How did Manasseh behave in his affliction 1 

A. He humbled himself greatly before God in prayer, 
whereupon God restored him to his kingdom, where he 
wrought a great reformation, ver. 12 — 16. 

54 Q. What is written concerning Amon, the son of 
Manasseh 7 

A. Amon restored the idolatry which Manasseh had once 
set up, but he never repented or turned to God as his father 
had done, and he was slain by his own servants, 2 Chron. 
xxxiii. 20 — 25. 

55 Q. What is worthy of notice in the reign of Josiah 
the son of Amon 1 

A. At eight years old he began his reign, at sixteen he 
sought after God, and at twenty he destroyed the altar and 
idols which his father Amon, the son of Manasseh, set up, 
2 Kings xxiii. 3 — 14. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 1 — 7. 

56 Q. How did he carry on this work of reformation? 
A. He repaired the temple, and restored the worship of 

God ; and finding a book of the law of the Lord by Moses, 
he rent his clothes, and mourned to think how little this law 
had been observed, ver. 18, 19. 



OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 107 

57 Q. What further use did he make of this book ? 

A. He read the words of it in the ears of all the elders 
of Judah, and the people,, the priests, and the prophets, and 
made a covenant with the people of Judah, to perform what 
was written in this book, 2 Kings xxiii. 2, 3. 

58 Q. Did he make also any reformation in Israel 1 

A. The kingdom of Israel being now destroyed by the 
king of Assyria, Josiah spread his influence over those who 
remained in the land, and many of Israel, as well as of 
Judah, came to keep the passover, 2 Chron. xxxv. 17. 

Note. To be concerned for the honour of God, and the welfare of 
souls, is characteristic of good men. Hence Josiah, grieved for the 
idolatrous state of the neighbouring kingdom of Israel, and endeavour- 
ed to bring them also back to the pure worship of the God of their fa- 
thers. 

59 Q,. Were not many of Israel present also at Heze- 
kiah's passover? Wherein then did this passover of Josiah 
exceed that in the days of Hezekiah 1 

A. In the exact conformity of it to all the rules appointed 
by Moses, so that no such passover had been kept since the 
days of Samuel the prophet, 2 Chron. xxxv. 18. 

60 Q. Did Josiah destroy all the remainder of the idol- 
atry of Israel, which Jeroboam set up at Dan and Bethel ? 

A. Yes, and he slew the priests of the high places, and 
burnt the bones of the priests that had been buried there on 
the altar, according to the Word which the old prophet spake 
to Jeroboam, 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 20. 1 Kings xiii. 2. 

61 Q. How came Josiah by his death ] 

A. He went out to fight with the king of Egypt without the 
direction of God, and he was slain, and great lamentation 
was made for him, 2 Chron. xxxv. 20 — -25. 

62 Q. Who succeeded Josiah in the kingdom 1 

A. His son Jehoahaz, who when he had reigned three 
months, was put in bonds by the king of Egypt, was carried 
thither, and there he died, 2 Kings xxiii. 31 — 34. 

63 Q. Whom did the king of Egypt make king in his 
room 1 

A. Eliakim his brother, and gave him the name of Jeho- 
iakim, 2 Kings xxiii. 34. 

64 Q. What sort of a governor was Jehoiakim, and what 
was his end 1 

A. He did evil in the sight of the Lord ; several neigh- 



108 OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 

hour nations beset him round about, and Nebuchadnezzar, 
king of Babylon, soul up his forces against him, took some 
captives, bound the king in fetters, and he died in disgrace, 
his dead body being cast without the gates of Jerusalem, and 
without a burial. And his young eon Jehoiachin reigned 
in his stead, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 5 — H. Dan. i. 1 — 3. Jer. 
xxii. 18, L9. 

05 Q. What became of this Jehoiachin, who is also called 
Jechoniah and Coniahl 

A. When he had reigned three months, Nebuchadnezzar 
took the city of Jerusalem, and carried him to Babylon, to- 
gether with ten thousand Captives, and rich treasures of sil- 
ver and gold that remained in the temple, and in the king's 
house, 2 Kings xxiv. 8 — 17. Jer. xxii. 24 — 80. 

(J() Q. Was then* any king iii Judah after Jehoiachin \ 

A. Yes, the last, king of Zedekiah, his father's brother, 

whom Nebuchadnezzar made king in Jerusalem, ver. 17, 
18. 

(>7 Q. What fell out in the days of Zedekiah ( . 

A. He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, to whom he had 

sworn subjection by the name of the true God; whereupon 

Nebuchadnezzar came up ahd took the city of Jerusalem 
again After a Beige of two days, 2 Kings xxv. 1 — 4. 

88 Q. How did he punish Zedekiah tor his rebellion? 

A. When Zedekiah Bed from the city, he was seized by 
the Babylonians; Nebuchadnezzar ordered his sons to be 

slain before his face, then his eyes wen- put out, he was 

hound with fetters of brass, and carried to Babylon, and 

there was no more a king in Judah, ver. (>, 7. 2Chron. 

xxxvi. 13. Thus was i he prediction <>i' Ezekie] remarkably 
fulfilled, who prophesied that Zedekiah should be carried to 

Babylon and die there, though he should mnrr sir it. 

(i!) Q. What, became Of the cuy and temple at this tune ! 

A. The king of Babylon burnt the temple of the Lord, 

the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem; lie 
brake down the Walls Of the City, and carried away the rest 

of the people captives; together with all the vessels of gold, 
silver, and brass, great, and small, that belonged to the tem- 
ple, 4 2 Kings xxv. 8 — 17. 

70 Q. But were the people punished thus for the sins of 

their kings 1 

A. The princes, and the priests, and the people, had a 



OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 109 

i 

large share in the common idolatry and wickedness, together 

with the kings, and that in opposition to all the warnings 

of their prophets, whereby God was provoked to punish 

them all, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 14 — 21. 

71 Q. Was there any ruler of the scattered people that 
remained in the land of Israel ? 

A. Gedaliah was made governor by the king of Babylon, 
but he was slain in a little time by a faction under Ishmael, 
one of the seed-royal ; and there was nothing but confusion 
and disorder in the land, 2 Kings xxv. 22, &c. 

72 Q. What became of the people afterwards? 

A. Johanan, the son of Kareah, one of the captains under 
Gedaliah, routed Ishmael, and drove him out of the land ; 
yet being afraid of the anger of the king of Babylon, and his 
resentment of the murder of Gedaliah his governor, he was 
tempted to fly into Egypt, and to carry most of the people 
thither with him, where they were dispersed into several 
cities, Jer. xli. 13 — 18, and chap, xlii, xliii. 

73 Q. Was this done by any divine order 1 

A. No, but directly against the word of the Lord, by the 
inouth of Jeremiah the prophet who was left among them in 
the land, and they carried him also into Egypt with them, 
Jer. xliii. 1 — 9. 

74 Q. Did the Jews behave themselves better in Egypt, 
after all their afflictions and distresses I 

A. They practised idolatry in Egypt with insolence, in 
opposition to the reproofs of Jeremiah the prophet, Jer. xliv. 

75 Q. Did they perish there, or return ) 

A. Jeremiah was ordered by the Loni to foretel the de- 
struction of Egypt by the king of Babylon, and to denounce 
the utmost calamities and death, bysword and famine, upon 
the Jews that sojourned there ; an^ that a very small number 
of them should ever return to tne land of Judah, though he 
foretold the return of their brethren from their captivity in 
Babylon, Jer. xliii. 9, and chap. xliv. 11, 28, &c. 
K 



110 THE JEWS RETURN FROM 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Of the return of the Jews from captivity in Babylon, 
and the re-building of the city of Jerusalem, and the 
Temple. 

1 Q. How long did the nation of the Jews continue in 
their captivity, and their land lie desolate 1 

A. Though the land lay not utterly desolate till the final 
destruction of Jerusalem, in the days of Zedekiah, which 
was between fifty and sixty years before their first release ; 
yet, from their first captivity by Nebuchadnezzar m former 
reigns, their land was in some measure desolate seventy 
years, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah. See 2 Chron. 
xxxvi. 21. Jer. xxv. 11, 12. 

Here let it be observed, that as there were several seasons, and 
under different kings, when part of the children of Israel and Judah 
were carried into captivity, and several periods whence their desola- 
tions may commence ; so there were several seasons also of their re- 
turn and restoration: but the chief duration of their captivity and 
desolate circumstances was seventy years. See 2 Kings xxiv. 1, 2, 
10—14, and chap, xxv. 11 compared with Ezra i. 1,2, and chap. vi. 1 
— 12, chap. vii. 7, and Nehem. ii. 1, &c 

2 Q. Who gave them a release from their captivity in 
Babylon? 

A. When Babylon was taken by Cyrus, the general of 
the army under Darius the king of the Medes, the Assyrian 
or Babylonish empi-e was finished and succeeded by that of 
Persia. After DariuVs death, Cyrus himself became king 
of Persia, and he not only gave the people of the Jews a re- 
lease, but gave them also a commission to rebuild the tem- 
ple, and restored to them the vessels of gold and silver ; and 
this he did by the hand of Shesbazzar, a prince of Judah, 
Ezra i. 7—11. 

Note. Now was that prophecy fulfilled which Isaiah pronounced 
above a hundred years before, Isa. xliv. 28, that it was Cyrus who 
should say to Jerusalem, Be thou built; and to the temple, Be thy 
foundation laid ; and chap. xlv. 13, who should build the city of God, 
and release his captives. 

3 Q. Which of the tribes did accept of this commission, 
and return to their own land * 



THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. Ill 

A. There were many persons and families of several 
tribes of Israel, who took this opportunity of returning: Yet 
it was chiefly those of Judah and Benjamin, with the priests 
and several of the Levites, who returned, and were now all 
united under the name of Jews, Ezra i. 5, and iv. 12. 

4 Q. Who were their first leaders and directors 1 

A. Zerubbabel, a prince of Judah, of the seed- royal; 
whose Chaldaic or Babylonish name was Shesbazzar; he 
was their prince or captain, and Jeshua, or Joshua, was their 
high priest, Ezra i. 11, and chap. ii. 2, and ii. 8, compared 
with v. 14—16, and Zech. chap. iii. and iv. 

Note. This Shesbazzar, or Zerubbabel, was the son of Salathiel, the 
son of Jehoiachin or Jeconiah, king of Judah ,• he was also made go- 
vernor of the land, under the title of Tirshatha, by a commission from 
Cyrus. Jeshua was the son of Jozadak, or Josedech, the son of Se- 
raiah, who was high priest when Jerusalem was destroyed, and who 
was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar. 

5 Q., What was the first thing* they did after their re- 
turn? 

A. They made a large contribution toward the rebuilding 
of the temple, they gathered themselves together to Jerusa- 
lem, they set up the altar of the God of Israel, and offered 
sacrifices upon it, Ezra ii. 68, and chap. iii. 1 — 6. 

6 Q. In what manner did they lay the foundation of the 
temple 1 

A. While the builders laid the foundation, the priests and 
the Levites sung and praised the Lord with trumpets and 
other instruments, after the ordinance of David, Ezra iii, 
10, 11. 

7 Q. What remarkable occurrences attended the laying 
of the foundation of the temple 1 

A. While the younger part of the people shouted for joy, 
many of the ancient fathers wept with a loud voice, when 
they remembered how much more glorious the first temple 
was than the second was like to be, ver. 12, 13, and Hag. ii. 
3. But God comforted them with the promise that "the 
glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the for- 
mer:" which was fulfilled when Christ, " the desire of all 
nations came in that very temple, which was destroyed a 
few years after his ascension," Hag. ii. 7 — 9. 

Here it may be observed, that though the foundation of the second 
temple stood on the same compass of ground as the first, yet a com- 
pany of poor exiles, returning from along captivity, could not promise 



112 THE JEWS RETURN FROM 

or hope for so glorious a building as the temple of Solomon, neither in 
the richness of the materials, nor in the magnificence and curiosity of 
the workmanship. See Dr. Prideaux's Connection, vol. i. p. 143. 

The Jews also generally suppose five things to be wanting in the 
second temple, after it was finished, which did belong to the first, 
namely, (1.) The ark of the covenant, and the mercy-seat, which was 
upon it, with the cherubs of gold, together with the tables of stone in 
which the law was written, which were in the ark when it was 
brought into Solomon's temple, 1 Kings viii. 9. 2 Chron. v. 10; though 
one would think they should have made an ark and a mercy-seat, 
before which the high priest should officiate once a year. Some 
learned men suppose that there was such an ark made, and that 
Ezra's correct copy of the Bible was laid up in it ; and that it is in imi- 
tation of this, that the present Jews in all their synagogues have such 
an ark or coffer, wherein they keep the law. (2.) The Shechinah, or 
Divine presence, in a cloud of glory on the mercy-seat. (3.) The 
Urim and Thummim, whence the oracle came, or Divine answers to 
their inquiries. (4.) The holy fire upon the altar, which came from 
heaven. (5.) The spirit of prophecy. For though Haggai, Zechariah, 
and Malachi lived while the second temple was building, and pro- 
phesied after it was built, yet on their death the prophetic spirit ceased 
from among them. 

8 Q. What was the first hindrance they found in the 
building of the temple 1 

A. The Samaritans desired to join with them in their 
building, and because the Jews forbad them, they gave them 
continual trouble in the days of Cyrus, Ezra iv. 1 — 5. 

9 Q. What was the second hindrance they met with ? 

A. When Artaxerxes the first, came to the throne of 
Persia, these people wrote an accusation against the Jews, 
that the city of Jerusalem had been rebellious in former 
times ; whereupon Artaxerxes caused the work to cease till 
the second year of Darius, ver. 7 — 24. 

Note. This was not Darius, the first king, and he who took Baby- 
lon, and released Daniel from the lions' den, but another, who reign- 
ed several years after him, and was called Darius Hystaspes, as the 
best authors assert; and this also was long before that Darius whom 
Alexander subdued, and so put an end to the Persian kingdom, and 
established the Macedonian. 

Here let it be observed in general, that it is not a very easy matter 
for learned men to agree exactly in adjusting the time of all these 
events, and the particular accomplishment of every prophecy, because 
there were several kings of the same name ; as, three or four Artax- 
erxes, and three or more Darius's, &c. And there were four decrees 
from the kings of Persia in favour of the Jews; the first from Cyrus 
to Zerubbabel, or Shesbazzar, a prince of Judah, Ezra i. 1 — 8. The 
second from Darius the second, to the enemies of the Jews, to forbid 
their hindrance of the work, Ezra vi, 1 — 7. The third from Artaxerx- 



THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 113 

es the second, to Ezra, recorded in Ezra vii. 11. The fourth from the 
same Artaxerxesto.Nehemiah.written in Nehem. ii. 1 — 9. 

10 Q. Who persuaded the Jews to go on with their 
work under the reign of this Darius 1 

A. The prophets of God who were with them, encouraged 
and required them in the name of the Lord, to go on with 
the work of the temple ; for several of them were too negli- 
gent, and God punished them for it with scarcity of corn 
and wine, Ezra v. 1, 2. Hag. i. 2 — 11. Zech. i. 7, &c. and 
chap, iii, and iv\ 

11 Q. What encouragement did they meet with from the 
Persian court ? 

A. The governors of the provinces at this time seeing 
them renew their buildings, sent to inquire concerning the 
orders which Cyrus gave for it ; and Darius having found 
this order among the records of Babylon, gave a fresh com- 
mand for the rebuilding of the house of God, Ezra v. 3 — 17, 
and chap. vi. 1 — 14. 

12 Q. When was the temple finished 1 

A. Through many delays, arising partly from the negli- 
gence of the Jews, partly from the opposition of their ene- 
mies, it was twenty years in building; nor was it finished 
till the sixth year of the reign of Darius, at which time 
they dedicated it with many sacrifices, and kept the pass- 
over with joy, Ezra vi. 15—22. 

Here it may be worthy of our observation, that the threatened de- 
struction of Babylon kept pace with the promised restoration and joy 
of the Jews. It was Cyrus, who, as general of the army of Darius 
the first, took Babylon by siege, with blood and slaughter, who also 
released the captive Jews, when he came to be king of Persia. Then 
the river was turned in upon the country round it, which Isaiah foretold, 
chap. xiv. 23. And it became a possession for bitterns, and pools of 
water, and the sea covered it. Yet Babylon was not then destroyed. 
But when the Babylonians revolted, in the fifth year of Darius Hy- 
staspes, and he beseiged them with a vast army, their desolation was 
very great. They themselves slew almo3t all their women and young 
children, to make their provisions hold out. Then the prophecy of 
Isaiah was fulfilled, chap, xlvii. 9. Two things shall come to them 
in one day, the los3 of children, and widowhood. Darius took the 
city in the end of the sixth year of his reign, (at which time the 
Jewish temple was finished ;) he gave them up to the plunder of his 
Persian army, impaled three thousand, who were chief actors in the 
revolt, beat their walls down from three hundred cubits high, to fifty 
cubits. After this, Babylon languished a while, and at last ended 
in a perpetual desolation. 

k2 



114 THE JEWS RETURN FROM 

13 Q. What further encouragement did the Jews receive 
from another king Artaxerxes 1 

A. Artaxerxes the second, king of Persia, gave Ezra the 
priest and scribe a letter and decree, to encourage the Jews 
yet remaining in Babylon, to go up to Jerusalem, and es- 
tablish the worship of the true God there, Ezra vii. 11 — 26. 

Note. This second Artaxerxes is supposed by Dr. Prideaux to be 
Artaxerxes Longimanus, as the Heathen historian calls him ; and to 
be that same Ahasuerus who made Esther his queen, and 80 became 
very friendly to the Jews. 

14 Q. How did the king enable them to fulfil this decree? 

A. The king and his counsellors freely offered much sil- 
ver and gold for this work, and being sensible of the great- 
ness and power of the God of the Jews, whom he calls the 
God of heaven, he sought to secure his favour for himself 
and his family, and pronounced a speedy sentence of death, 
banishment, loss of goods, or imprisonment on those who 
should dare to hinder this building, ver. 15 — 17, 23, 26. 

15 Q. What did Ezra do before his journey to Jerusalem 1 
A. He proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer, to seek 

the assistance of God ; for he was ashamed to ask the king 
for soldiers to be their guard, because he had told the king 
of the power and the mercy of their God, Ezra viii. 21, 22. 

16 Q. What did Ezra do when he came to Jerusalem 1 
A. He delivered the orders of the king to the governors 

of the provinces, and the gold and silver to those who had 
the care of the building, and so promoted the work, ver. 33 
—36. 

17 Q. What reformation did Ezra work among the peo- 
ple? 

A. When he was informed that many of the Jews had 
mingled themselves in marriages with the Heathens, he, 
together with the more religious part of the Jews, hum- 
bled themselves before God for all their former iniquities, in 
excellent prayer, and brought them into a covenant and an 
oath to put away their strange wives, Ezra chap. ix. and x.* 

Note. In order to prevent their being seduced into idolatry, none 
of the Jews of either sex might marry with a Gentile of any nation, 
unless they were made proselytes: and even then, they suppose the 

* Ezra, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, set forth a correct 
edition of the inspired writings, in Chaldee characters. 



THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. ll\ 

Canaanites of the seven nations, (Deut. vii.) and the males among the 
Moabites and Ammonites to be excluded for ever; as they interpret 
Deut. xxiii. 3. 

18 Q. Did the Jews rebuild the city of Jerusalem 1 

A. Yes, for the Babylonian army had broken down the 
walls, and burnt the gates of it, Neh. i. 3. 

19 Q. Whom did God raise up to carry on the rebuilding 
the city? 

A. Nehemiah the Jew, who was a cup-bearer to Artax- 
erxes the king of Persia, Nehem. i. 11. 

20 Q. How was Nehemiah engaged therein ? 

A. When he heard of the continuance of the desolations 
made by the enemies, he fasted and prayed to God, and then 
he obtained leave of Artaxerxes the king to go up to Jeru- 
salem, and rebuild the city of the sepulchres of his fathers, 
Nehem. ii. 1 — 7. 

21 Q. What further encouragement did Nehemiah re- 
ceive from the king 1 

A. He received orders for the governors of the provinces 
to assist him, and to give timber out of the king's forest, 
ver. 7, 8. 

22 Q. How did Nehemiah begin his work 1 

A. He rode round the city by night, and took a private 
survey of the ruins thereof, arid appointed a particular part 
of the walls and gates to be repaired by particular persons 
and their companies, Nehem. chap, ii, and iii. 

23 Q. What opposition did the Jews meet with in this 
part of their work 1 

A. Sanballat the Samaritan, and Tobiah the Ammonite, 
and their accomplices, at first laughed the Jews to scorn, and 
then charged them falsely, and conspired to fight against 
them while they were at work, Nehem. iv. 1 — 7. 

24 Q. How did Nehemiah prevent the mischief they de- 
signed 1 

A. He encouraged the Jews to trust in their God, and ap- 
pointed every man that laboured in the work to have a 
weapon ready to defend himself, ver. 13 — 23. 

25 Q. What reformation did Nehemiah work among 
them'? 

A. He reproved those that took usury, and oppressed 
their brethren; and he set himself for an example, who, 
though he was governor twelve years, took no salary, but 



116 THE JEWS RETURN FROM 

maintained himself and one hundred and fifty Jews at his 
own charge, Nehem. v. 7 — 19. 

26 Q. In what manner did they worship God when the 
city was built 1 

A. On the first day of the seventh month all the people 
were gathered together in one street, and Ezra the priest 
and scribe read in the book of the law, and gave the sense 
of the words, that they might see their past sins and errors ; 
and might be instructed to yield a more regular and exact 
obedience for time to come ; and this being done, he blessed 
the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, 
Nehem. viii. 1 — 8. 

Note. It is a remark of Dr. Prideaux, that though Ezra's authority 
and government expired before this time, yet he went on, as a skil- 
ful scribe of the law of God, to preach righteousness, to perfect the re- 
formation, to gather the several parts of scripture together, to set forth 
correct copies of them, and to bring all things in church and state to 
the rules thereof. And this he did by the assistance of the next go- 
vernor, Nehemiah, doing the same things by his authority, which be- 
fore he did by his own. 

27 Q. How did they keep the feast of tabernacles ? 

A. By dwelling in booths made of branches of trees seven 
days together, as God had commanded by Moses, and they 
read in the book of the law every day of the seven, and 
explained it, ver. 13 — 18. 

28 Q. How did they keep a feast on the twenty-fourth 
day of the seventh month] 

A. One fourth part of the day they confessed their sins, 
and another fourth part they read in the book of the law, 
and then they entered into a covenant with an oath to be 
the Lord's people, and the princes, and the priests, and the 
Levites sealed it, Nehem. chap, ix, and x. 1, 2. 

29 Q. How were the people disposed of in their habita- 
tions 1 

A. The rulers dwelt at Jerusalem, the rest of the priests 
and people cast lots to bring one in ten to dwell at Jerusa- 
lem, and nine parts in the other cities, that the land might 
be peopled, Neh. xi. 

30 Q. How was the wall of Jerusalem, the holy city, 
dedicated 1 ? 

A. The Levites came from all places to Jerusalem, and 
joined with the priests and the rulers in two large compa- 
nies, and gave thanks, and offered sacrifices, and sung the 



THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. 117 

praises of God, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar 
off, Neh. xiii. 27—43. 

31 Q. What further reformation did Nehemiah bring in 
among the people ? 

A. In obedience to the direction in the xxiii. of Deut. 
and the 3d verse, he turned Tobiah the Ammonite out of his 
lodging in the temple, which Eliashib the high priest had 
prepared for him ; he established the portion of the fruits of 
the earth which belonged to the Levites ; he forbade the 
profanation of the Sabbath, by buying and selling, and bear- 
ing burdens, and punished the Jews who married strange 
wives, Neh. xiii. 4 — 29. 

32 Q. What remarkable instance did Nehemiah give of 
his zeal in punishing those who married strangers 7 

A. He drove away one of the sons of Joiada, the son of 
Eliashib the high priest, for marrying the daughter of San- 
ballat the Horonite, who had hindered the Jews so much in 
their building several years before, ver. 28. 

Note. The young man's name was Manasseh, as Josephus in- 
forms us. 

33 Q. Had Nehemiah no prophet to assist him in this 
difficult work 1 

A. It is supposed that Malachi, the last of the prophets, 
prophesied about this time, for he doth not reprove them for 
the neglect of building, as Haggai did, Hag. i. 4, 9, nor does 
he speak of the finishing of the temple, as Zachariah did, 
chap. iv. 7, 9. But supposing that already done, he re- 
proved them about their marriage of strangers, and of seve- 
ral wives, or of taking concubines, Mai. ii. 11, 14, 16, and 
their robbing God of their tithes, chap, iii, &c. and their 
polluting the altar, and neglect of offering God the best, 
chap, i; which were the very things which Nehemiah cor- 
rected in his last reformation. 

Thus far the Holy Scripture has delivered down to us the his- 
tory of the transactions of God with men, and particularly with his 
own people, the nation of Israel, in a long and continued succes- 
sion of events, from the creation of the world to the return of the 
Jews from the captivity of Babylon, and the settling of the church 
and state under Nehemiah, whom the king of Persia made governor 
over the land. 

There are several other historical matters related in Scripture 
which belong to particular persons; the most considerable of them 
are the histories of Job and Jonah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Esther. And 



118 THE HISTORY OF JOB. 

as the account of these persons is calculated to throw light upon 
the history of the church before the coming of the Saviour, and upon 
the Christian dispensation, so we will proceed to take some notice 
of them. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
The History of Job. 

1 Q. Who was Job? 

A. A most religious man in the land of Uz, (a country 
situate south-east of Canaan,) who had ten children, and 
very great riches, Job i. 1 — 3. 

2 Q. In what age of the world is Job supposed to have 
lived 3 

A. In, or before the days of Moses, because there is not 
the least intimation of any transactions of God with Israel 
in the whole book of Job. 

3 Q. What particular act of piety is related concerning 
him in his prosperous state 1 

A. When his children had been feasting each other in 
their turns, Job offered sacrifices for them, lest they should 
have sinned, and provoked God in the seasons of their mirth, 
ver. 4, 5. 

4 Q. What were the afflictions that fell upon Job 1 

A. God permitted the devil, by kindling of lightning, 
and by stirring up robbers and plunderers among his hea- 
then neighbours, to bereave him of all his cattle and his 
wealth in one day; and to destroy all his children, even 
seven sons, and three daughters, by a tempest which blew 
down the house in which they were feasting, ver. 6 — 19. 

5 Q. Was the devil suffered to vent his malice upon the 
person of Job ? 

A. Yes, God permitted him to smite Job with sore boils, 
from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, Job ii. 6, 7. 

6 Q. What was the design of God in these providences 
towards Job ? 

A. To try the strength of his piety, and to set him up 
as an example of patience, both in the exercise of it, and in 
the rewards of it, Job xxiii. 10. James v. 11. 

7 Q. What was the behaviour of Job under this trial 1 



THE HISTORY OF JOB. 119 

A. He blessed the name of the Lord, and did not murmur 
at his providence, Job i. 20 — 22, and chap. ii. 10. 

8 Q. What was a further aggravation of Job's distress 1 
A. That his wife tempted him to abandon all religion, 

because God suffered him to be thus afflicted, Job ii. 9, 10. 

9 Q. Had Job any comforter 1 

A. Three friends came from the neighbouring places, to 
mourn with him and comfort him, ver. 11. 

10 Q. How long did his patience continue in this per- 
fect exercise of it 1 

A. Seven days he sat down in ashes, and was silent 
under the hand of God, ver. 13. 

11 Q. Wherein did any impatience of Job at first ap- 
pear 1 

A. In cursing the day on which he was born, Job iii. 

1—16. .' _ J 

12 Q. What were the sentiments of Job's three friends 
on this mournful occasion, and how did they carry it towards 

A. When they saw him to be so dreadfully afflicted, 
they rashly concluded he had been guilty of very great sins, 
notwithstanding his outward profession of piety, and there- 
fore they severely reproved him for his grievous complaints, 
Job, chap, iv, &c. 

13 Q. How did Job answer to their charges? 

A. He maintained against them all this great truth, 
" That God did sometimes afflict those who were innocent, 
for wise and unsearchable reasons;" and he vindicated his 
own innocence, placing his trust in God, chap, ix, &e. 

14 Q. Wherein did Job fail in his duty toward God m 
this matter 1 

A. Under the violence of his distress, and the most unjust 
accusations of his friends, he sometimes spoke words of 
unreasonable despair, and sometimes he used rash and unbe- 
coming language against the great God, and vindicated him- 
self too much, as though he had been perfectly innocent 
before God as well as before men, Job, chap, vi, &c. 

15 Q, How was the controversy between Job and his 
friends compromised at last! 

A. Elihu, a fourth friend, who was younger than the rest, 
and had come to visit him, took a middle way to end this 
controversy, and spoke more agreeable to the truth ; and 



120 THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 

though he reproved the three friends for asserting that God 
would never afflict any innocent man so much as Job was 
afflicted ; yet he severely reproved Job for insisting so much 
on his own innocence before God, chap, xxxii, &c. 

16 Q. What was the foundation of Elihu's argurnent on 
this occasion 1 

A. The supreme majesty and holiness of God ; the mean- 
ness and sinfulness of the best of men in his sight ; his 
sovereign dominion over all things, and the unsearchable- 
ness of his wisdom and conduct toward men, chap, xxxiii, 
and xxxvi, &c. 

17 Q. How did God himself manifestly engage in de- 
ciding this controversy ] 

A. He greatly confirmed the sentiments and opinions of 
Elihu, by asserting and displaying his own supreme wisdom 
and power, his grandeur and dominion over all things, by a 
voice out of the whirlwind, chap, xxxv, &c. 

18 Q. What effect had this upon his servant Job 1 

A. Job confessed his folly, abhorred himself for his sin 
under the apprehension of the holiness and the majesty of 
God, and repented in dust and ashes, xliii. 1—6. 

19 Q. How did God deal with the three friends of Job 1 
A. He disapproved of their false accusations of Job, and 

their wrong sentiments concerning God himself and his con- 
duct, and bid them offer a sacrifice of atonement, and Job to 
pray for them, ver. 7, 8. 

20 Q. What tokens of approbation and favour did God 
show to Job ! 

A. While Job prayed for his friends, God released him 
from all his afflictions, and afterward gave him ten children, 
as he had at first, he doubled his estate, and prolonged his 
life to four generations, Job xlii. 10 — 17. 



CHAPTER XV. 
The History of Jonah. 

1 Q. Who was Jonah ? 

A. A prophet who lived about the time of Jeroboam the 
second, king of Israel, Jonah i. 1. 2 Kings xiv. 25. There 
is no need of particular citations of chapter and verse for 



THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 121 

the history of Jonah, since the whole is contained in four 
short chapters. 

2 Q. Whither did God send him 1 

A. He was sent to Nineveh, to pronounce destruction 
upon that great city for their disobedience. 

3 Q. How did Jonah disobey God 1 * 

A. He took shipping, and fled toward Tarshish, from the 
presence of the Lord, because he supposed that the mercy 
of God would spare Nineveh after he had pronounced de- 
struction upon it; and then he should be counted $ false 
prophet 1 

4 Q. What befel him in this voyage 1 

A. There arose a terrible tempest, which endangered 
the ship, and Jonah being conscious of his own guilt, ad- 
vised the sailors to cast him into the sea, and then the storm 
ceased. 

5 Q. What became of Jonah ? 

A. A great fish swallowed him up, and he continued in 
the bowels of the fish three days and three nights, 

6 Q. Did he ever come to shore again? 

A. At his repentance and earnest prayer, God commanded 
the fish to vomit out Jonah upon the dry land, Jonah ii. 

7 Q. What service did God assign to Jonah after this 
great deliverance 1 

A. He sent him the second time to Nineveh to preach 
destruction against it within forty days,* Jonah iii. 

8. Q. What effect had this preaching upon the people 1 

A. The king and the people put on sackcloth, mourned 
for their sins, turned from their evil ways, and cried mightily 
to God for mercy, whereupon God withheld the punishment 
which he threatened. 

9 Q. How did Jonah resent this merciful dealing of God 
with Nineveh 1 

A. He feared he should be counted a false prophet, 
and in an angry temper desired God to take away his life, 
Jonah iv, 

* It is always implied in the divine threats, that the judgment 
may be averted by timely repentance; when then this is not exe- 
cuted, it is no proof that God's purposes have been changed, but 
that we have turned from our evil ways. God is " without varia- 
bleness or shadow of turning," but we must turn from our sins or 
perish, James i. 17. 

Xj 



122 THE HISTORY OF JEREMIAH. 

10 Q. What did God do to convince him of the unreason- 
ableness of his anger 1 

A. He made a gourd grow up in a night, which shel- 
tered him from the heat of the sun, and he caused it to 
wither the next day ; upon which Jonah murmured against 
God. 

11 Q. How did God argue with Jonah upon this occur- 
rence ? 

A. God reproved the prophet, that he should be so much 
concerned about a gourd, a senseless plant which grew up 
in one night, and only afforded him some conveniency of 
life ; and that he should be no more concerned about the 
lives of so great and populous a city, which besides men 
and women, had above sixscore thousand children in it, and 
much cattle, iv. 11. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
The History of Jeremiah, 

1 Q. Who was Jeremiah ] 

A. One of the priests in the land of Benjamin, whom God 
called to be a prophet when he was very young, in the days 
of Josiah, king of Judah, Jer. i. 1 — 7. 

2 Q. What encouragement had he when he was so 
young to pronounce the judgments of God against the 
people 1 

A. God put forth his hand, and touched his mouth, to 
signify his divine inspiration, and promised his presence 
with him, to deliver him from all that should oppose him, 
ver. 7—19: 

3 Q. What was the chief message with which Jeremiah 
was sent to the people, and to the princes and kings of 
Judah 1 

A. That Jerusalem should be destroyed, and the people 
and princes should be carried away captives into Babylon, 
because of their sins, and remain there seventy years. From 
Jer. chap, vii — xxv. ver. 11, 12. 

4 Q. By what method did Jeremiah set before them their 
sins, and these judgments of God 1 

A. By some very plain and direct speeches, by an exam- 



THE HISTORY OF JEREMIAH. 123 

pie of the Rechabites set before them, and by some parables 
or emblems. 

5 Q. How did Jeremiah show them the heinousness of 
their sins, by a view of the example of the Rechabites 7 

A. Since all the family of Rechab abstained from wine, 
which is no unlawful liquor, merely because Jonadab their 
father forbid them ; much more should the Jews have ab- 
stained from those practices which are utterly unlawful, 
when the God of Israel had forbid them, Jer. xxxv. 

6 Q. What were some of the emblems by which God 
ordered Jeremiah to foretel their calamities 1 

A. A linen girdle, a potter's vessel, an earthen bottle, yokes 
of wood and of iron, &c. 

7 Q. What was designed by the linen girdle] 

A. Jeremiah was commanded to hide it in the hole of a 
rock near the river Euphrates, and when he sought it again, 
it was quite spoiled, so God decreed to spoil the pride of Je- 
rusalem by the nation that dwelt near the Euphrates, that 
is, Assyria, Jer. xiii. 

8 Q. What was intended by the potter's vessel ? 

A. As when the vessel of clay was spoiled in the making, 
the form of it wa3 changed, and it was moulded up into 
another vessel, as the potter pleased, so God declared his 
power over the house of Israel, to manage and dispose of 
them as he pleased ; and that he would change his providen- 
ces and their state, according to their behaviour, Jer. xviii. 

9 Q. What further lesson was taught by an earthen bottle 1 
A. Jeremiah w T as commanded to break the bottle in the 

sight of the priests and the elders, and to declare, Thus saith 
the Lord, even so will 1 break this nation and this city, that 
it shall not be made whole again, Jer. xix. 

10 Q. What did Jeremiah teach them by the emblems of 
bonds and yokes 1 

A. In the days of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, God com- 
manded Jeremiah to make bonds and yokes, and put them 
upon his own neck, and then to send them to the kings of 
the nations round about, to assure them that they should all 
be made subject to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Jer. 
xxvii. 1—12. 

11 Q. Who were Jeremiah's chief enemies 1 

A. The priests and the false prophets, who would have 
put him to death in the reign of Jehoiakim, Jer. xxvi. 1 — 8. 



\U THE HISTORY 0* JEREMIAH. 

12 Q. Who saved Jeremiah at that time 1 

A. The princes and the people saved him from death, 
though the king slew Urijah the prophet, who confirmed the 
words of Jeremiah, ver. 10—24. 

13 Q. What abuses did Jeremiah receive from Pashur 
the priest? 

A. Pashur smote the prophet, and put him in the stocks, 
Jer. xx. 1, 2. 

14 Q. What evil was denounced against Pashur on this 
account 1 

A. God changed his name to Magor-Missabib to denote 
that he should be a terror to himself and, to all his friends, 
and foretold that he should be led captive to Babylon, and 
die there, ver. 3 — 6. 

15 Q. How did Jeremiah's patience hold out under the 
many injuries he received % 

A. In the main he continued to trust in God, but once he 
murmured against God, refused to prophecy, and cursed the 
day of his birth, ver. 7 — 18. 

16 Q. In what manner did God overcome his murmuring 
and disobedience ] 

A. The word of the Lord was in his heart like a burning 
fire shut up in his bones, and he could not forbear speaking, 
ver. 9. 

17 Q. How did Jeremiah publish his prophecies when 
he could not appear in public himself, he being shut up in 
prison 1 

A. He commanded Baruch the scribe to write the words 
of his prophecies from his mouth in a volume of a book, and 
to read them in the ears of the people in the temple on a 
fast-day, Jer. xxxvi. 1 — 10. 

18 Q. What effect had this upon Jehoiakim the king 1 
A. When he heard of it, he sent for the volume, read a 

little of it, cut it with a penknife, and burnt it in the fire, 
and then sent to seize Jeremiah and Baruch, but God by his 
kind providence kept them hid from the king, ver. 20 — 26. 

19. Q. What was the next message from God to Jere- 
miah? 

A. That he should take another volume, and that Baruch 
should write over again from his mouth the same words, and 
many others of the same import, ver. 27, 32. 

20 Q. What did Jeremiah prophesy concerning Jehoa- 



THE HISTORY OF JEREMIAH. 125 

haz, the son of Josiah king of Judah, who is here called 
Shallum % 

A. That he should die a captive in the land of Egypt, Jer. 
xxii. 11, 12. 2 Kings xxiii. 31, 34. 

21 Q. What did he say concerning Jehoiakim his 
brother ? 

A. That he should die unlamented, and be buried like an 
ass, drawn and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem, Jer. 
xxii. 18, 20. 

22 Q. What did he pronounce concerning Jehoiachin, 
who is also called Jeconiah and Coniah ? 

A. That he should die in a strange land, and none of his 
seed should sit on the throne of Judah, Jer. xxii. 24 — 30; and 
he accordingly was carried to Babylon, and lived long there, 
and there he died, Jer. Hi. 31. 

23. Q. What advice did he give to Zedekiah, king of 
Judah? 

A. To submit willingly to the yoke of the king of Baby- 
lon, that both he and his people might meet with better 
treatment, Jer. xxvii. 12, 18. 

24 Q. How did the false prophet Hananiah oppose Jere- 
miah? 

A. He took the yoke from the prophet Jeremiah's neck, 
which probably he had worn for some years ; and as he brake 
it, he declared, The Lord would brake the yoke of Nebu- 
chadnezzar in two years from the necks of the nations, Jer. 
xxviii. 1 — 11. 

25 Q. How did Jeremiah answer him ? 

A. That. God had appointed yokes of iron instead of yokes 
of wood, for all the nations to serve the king of Babylon ; 
and that Hananiah should die in that year for his falsehood ; 
which came to pass in two months after, ver. 10 — 17. 

28 Q. Among all the predictions of distress, did not Je- 
remiah prophesy any thin^ comfortable to the nation of 
Israel? 

A. Yes, he foretold the return of the Jews to their own 
land with joy, after seventy years captivity, and he encou- 
raged their faith and hope by many gracious promises of the 
Messiah who was to come, Jer. xxv, xxix, xxx, and xxxi. 

27 Q. How did king Zedekiah deal with Jeremiah the 
prophet, when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem ? 

A. He shut him up in the court of the prison which was 
l2 



126 THE HISTORY OF JEREMIAH. 

in the king's house, because he foretold that Jerusalem 
should be taken, and that Zedekiah the king should not es- 
cape, but be carried to Babylon, Jer. xxxii. 1 — 5. 

28 Q. What did Jeremiah do in prison to assure them 
that the Jews should return from captivity, and possess the 
cities of Judah again ? 

A. By express order from God he bought a field of his 
cousin Hananeel, paid him the money, subscribed the evi- 
dence, and sealed it before witnesses, as an emblem and 
pledge of what should be done in Jerusalem hereafter, ver. 
6, 16, 44. 

29 Q. What did Jeremiah do when he was at liberty 1 
A. He endeavoured to flee out of Jerusalem, but was 

seized by the guard, upon suspicion of falling away to the 
Chaldeans, and was thrust down into a dungeon by the 
princes, because he prophesied the destruction of the city. 
Jer. xxx vii. 11 — 16, and xxxviii. 1 — 6. 

30 Q. What relief did the prophet find there? 

A. When he sunk in the mire, Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, 
a servant in the king's house, drew him up with ropes, by 
leave from the king ; and he remained in the court of the 
prison till the city was taken, ver. 7 — 14. 

31 Q. What favour did God show to Ebedmelech on this 
account? 

A. He assured him he should not die by the sword, but 
his life should be given him, because he trusted in the Lord, 
Jer. xxxix. 16. 

32 Q. When Zedekiah the king sent for Jeremiah, what 
message had he from God 1 

A. He repeated his advice to the king of Judah, to go 
forth and submit to the king of Babylon, in order to save 
himself and the city, ver. 17, &c. 

33 Q. Did the king hearken to his advice ? 

A. No, he did not obey the prophet ; so the city was taken 
and burnt, the princes of Judah were slain, and the king's 
sons were put to death before his eyes : Then the king had 
his eyes put out, and he was carried in chains to Babylon, 
and died there, Jer. xxxix. 8 — 10, and Hi. 1 — 11. 

34 Q. What became of Jeremiah after the city was taken ? 

Note. Then was fulfilled the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning Ze- 
dekiah, chap. xii. 13. I will bring him to Babylon, the land df the 
Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. 



THE HISTORY OF JEREMIAH. 127 

A. Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to the officers of his army 
to take care of him ; and to give him his liberty to go where 
he pleased, Jer. xxxix. 11, and xl. 4, 5. 

35 Q. Whither did Jeremiah choose to go ? 

A. He chose to continue in the land of Israel, and put 
himself under the protection of Gedaliah, whom the king of 
Babylon made governor in the land, ver. 6, 7. 

36 Q. Did Jeremiah continue under his protection? 

A. Gedaliah was quickly slain by a faction raised by Ish- 
mael ; and Ishmael also was put to flight by another faction 
under the command of Johanan, Jer. xl. 41. 

37 Q. What did Johanan do with Jeremiah } 

A. He carried him and a multitude of the people into 
Egypt, in direct opposition to the advice which Jeremiah 
gave him from the Lord, Jer. xlii, and xliii. 

38 Q. What did Jeremiah do in the land of Egypt? 

A. He severely reproved the Jews for their idolatry there ; 
he denounced ruin upon them ; he took great stones, and hid 
them in the clay at the entrance of Pharaoh the king of 
Egypt's palace, and foretold that Nebuchadnezzar should 
conquer Egypt, and should set his throne upon those stones, 
Jer. xliii. 9, 10. 

39 Q. Among the several prophecies against the nations 
round about, did not Jeremiah foretel the destruction of 
Babylon? 

A. Yes, he pronounced the severe judgments of God 
against Babylon, who had plundered Jerusalem in a notable 
and dreadful manner, as Isaiah did before him; all were 
eminently fulfilled, partly when Cyrus the Persian took the 
city of Babylon, and partly in following times, Jer. 1, and li. 

40 Q. What emblem or pledge did Jeremiah give of the 
accomplishment of this prophecy? 

A. He wrote in a book all these threatenings, and bid 
Seraiah, one of the Jewish captives, read it when he came 
to Babylon, then bind a stone to it, and cast it into the river 
Euphrates, and say, Thus shall Babijlon sink, and shall 
never rise again, Jer. li. 59- — 64.* 

41 Q. What became of Jeremiah? 

A. He is generally said to have been put to death in 
Egypt by the Jews for his faithful reproof of them. 

* The Babylonish empire lasted two hundred and nine years. — 
Where Babylon stood is now bog and marsh. 



128 THE HISTORY OF DANIEL. 

CHAPTER XVII. 
The History of Daniel. 

1 Q. Who was Daniel? 

A. A young man of the tribe of Judah, who was carried 
captive by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, in the reign of 
Jehoiakim king of Judah, Dan i. 1 — 6. 

2 Q. How was he disposed of in Babylon ? 

A. Daniel, and his associates, Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abed-nego were appointed to be nourished by the king's 
provision, and to be trained up in the learning of the Chal- 
deans, that in three years time they might stand before the 
king, ver. 5, 6. And to Daniel there was given the name 
of Belteshazzar. 

3 Q. And did they, being Jews, eat of the king's provi- 
sion, which was prepared after the manner of the heathens? 

A. No, they chose to be fed with pulse and water, rather 
than defile themselves with the king's meat, ver. 8 — 14. 

4 Q. How T did they thrive by it ? 

A. Their countenance appeared fairer, and their aspect 
was better approved by Melzar, who took care of them, than 
the rest who fed on royal dainties, ver. 15. 

5 Q. How did they approve themselves w T hen they were 
called before the king ? 

A. The king found them far wiser and better than all the 
astrologers and magicians in his kingdom, ver. 20. 

6 Q. What was the first special occasion of Daniel's ad- 
vancement at court? 

A. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream which much trou- 
bled him, yet he forgot it in the morning, and sent orders 
to destroy all the wise men and astrologers, because they 
could not tell him both the dream and the interpretation 
thereof, Dan. ii. 1 — 13. 

7 Q. How did Daniel obtain this secret from God? 

A. He, and his three associates, Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abed-nego, engaged in prayer to the God of heaven, that he 
would reveal this secret to them, that they might not all 
perish together with the astrologers, whom the king had 
doomed to death, Dan. ii. 16 — 18. 



THE HISTORY OF DANIEL. 129 

8 Q. What was this dream which Daniel rehearsed be- 
fore the king I 

A. There appeared a bright and terrible image, whose 
head was gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and 
thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet part of iron, 
and part of clay, which was dashed to pieces by a stone 
"cut out without hands," according to the prophecy of 
Isaiah xiv. 23 ; and the stone became a mountain and filled 
the whole earth, ver. 31 — 35. 

9 Q. What was the interpretation of it 

A. It signifies the four great monarchies of the world, 
and namely, the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the 
Roman, which should destroy one another in succession; 
and the last of them should be destroyed by the kingdom of 
Christ, which should spread through the earth, and remain 
for ever, ver. 31 — 45. 

10 Q. What honours did Nebuchadnezzar bestow on Da- 
niel on this occasion ] 

A. He acknowledged the supremacy of the God of Daniel, 
he made Daniel ruler over Babylon, and at his request made 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego officers under him, ver. 
46, 49. 

11 Q. What became of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- 
nego? 

A. Notwithstanding the honour the king had given them, 
yet they were cast into a fiery furnace, because they would 
not worship a huge gold image which king Nebuchadnezzar 
had set up, Dan. iii. 1 — 21. 

12 Q. What remarkable providence attended their being 
cast into the fiery furnace ? 

A. The king being enraged at them for refusing boldly 
to worship the image, commanded the furnace to be made 
seven times hotter, even to such a degree that the flames 
slew the men who cast them into it, ver. 22. 

13 Q. How were they saved in the fiery furnace? 

A. Though these three men were cast into the furnace 
bound, and fell down in the fire, yet presently afterwards 
the king saw four men, loose, walking in the fire, and they 
had no hurt : And the form of the fourth was like the son 
of God, ver. 23, 24, 25, that is, some glorious person whom 
Nebuchadnezzar could not better describe than as a heaven- 
ly being, a son of God. 



130 THE HISTORY OF DANIEL. 






14 Q. What influence had this upon the king? 
A. He called to them to come out of the furnace, and 

blessed their God, who had sent his angel to deliver them ; 
and made a decree, that no man should speak against the 
God of the Jews, ver. 26— -28. 

15 Q. What other dream of Nebuchadnezzar's did Daniel 
interpret ] 

A. The dream of a tall and spreading tree that was cut 
down, and the stump of it was left in the earth ; and that 
he should have a beast's heart given him instead of a man's 
for seven years, Dan. iv. 1 — 16. 

16 Q. What interpretation did Daniel give to it ? 

A. That Nebuchadnezzar the king should be driven from 
his kingdom, should run mad, and dwell seven years with 
the beasts of the earth, and then be restored to his reason 
and kingdom again, ver. 19 — 27. 

17 Q. How soon was this fulfilled 1 

A. At the end of twelve months he was walking in the 
palace of Babylon, and boasting of his grandeur and majesty, 
when there came a voice from heaven, that his kingdom was 
departed, and he should be driven from men. And imme- 
diately he was seized with madness, and the sentence was 
executed upon him, and he fled from the society of men, 
and herded with the beasts in the open field, ver. 28—33. 

18 Q. What did Nebuchadnezzar do at seven years end, 
when his understanding and his kingdom were restored to 
him? 

A. He did further honours to the God of heaven, and pub- 
lished this history of himself, and these signs and wonders 
of the great God throughout all his dominions, ver. 1—3. 

19 Q. What notice was taken of Daniel in the time of 
Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar ] 

A. He was sent for to court by advice of Nitoceis the 
queen-mother, to read and interpret three or four words, 
which were written upon the wall by the apparition of a 
hand while Belshazzar was feasting, Dan. v. 5 — 16. 

20 Q. What was there in Belshazzar's feast that emi- 
nently provoked God against him ? 

A. He, his concubines, his princes, and his nobles drank 
in the holy vessels that were taken out of the temple of 
God, at Jerusalem, and at the same time they praised their 
gods of gold and silver, of wood and stone, Dan. v. 1 — 4. 



THE HISTORY OF DANIEL. 131 

21 Q. What was the meaning of this writing upon the 
walll 

A. That God had finished Belshazzar's kingdom, and 
given it to the Medes and Persians, ver. 25—28. 

22 Q. What honour was done to Daniel 1 

A. He was immediately clothed in scarlet, with a chain 
of gold, and made the third ruler in the kingdom, ver. 29. 

23 Q. When was this sentence executed on Belshaz- 
zar? 

A. He was slain that very night, by the army under the 
command of Cyrus the genera], who after a long siege took 
the city of Babylon, and the kingdom was translated to Da- 
rius the Mede, the uncle of Gyrus, and emperor of the 
Medes and Persians, ver* 30, 31. 

24 Q. Did Daniel lose his preferment by the change of 
the kingdom 1 

A. No, for Darius set Daniel over all the hundred and 
twenty princes, and made him first of the three presidents, 
Dan. vi. 1—3. 

25 Q. How did the envy of the presidents and the princes 
prosecute him on this occasion ! 

A. They knew that Daniel would pray to his God, and 
they persuaded king Darius to sign a decree, that if any 
man should ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, 
besides of the king himself, he should be cast into the lion's 
den, ver, 4 — 9. 

28 Q. What did Daniel do when he heard of this decree ? 

A. He went to his house, and the windows being open to- 
wards Jerusalem, he prayed to his God three times a day, 
according to his custom, ver. 10. 

27 Q. What was the consequence of this 1- 

A. Though the king himself was sorry for his decree, 
and tried all means to save Daniel, yet his enemies prevail- 
ed to have him cast into the den of lions, because the laws 
of the Medes and Persians were not to be altered, ver. 11, 
17. 

28 Q. Wherein did the king further show his concern for 
Daniel? 

A. He passed the night without music or sleep, he went 
early to the lion's den in the morning, and found Daniel 
safe, to his great joy ; for God had shut the mouths of the 
lions, that they did him no hurt, ver. 18 — 23. 



132 THE HISTORY OF DANIEL. 

29 Q. Wherein did king Darius manifest his resentment 
against the enemies of Daniel 1 

A. He cast them, with their wives and children, into the 
den of lions, who broke all their bones immediately, ver. 24. 

30 Q. What special regard did Darius show to the true 
God on this occasion 1 

A. He sent a decree through all nations, that men should 
fear the God of Daniel, ver. 25. 

31 Q. What are the other most remarkable things in the 
history of Daniel 1 

A. The visions which he saw, the excellent prayer which 
he made for the restoration of the Jews from captivity, and 
the other prophecies which were given him by angels. 

32 Q. What were some of his visions and prophecies ? 
A. Emblems and representations of the four monarchies 

of the world, and of the kingdom of Christ ; and predic- 
tions concerning future events among the Jews, and other 
nations of the earth ; some of which are expressed so plain- 
ly, that the enemies of the Bible suppose them to be writ- 
ten after those events came to pass, Dan. chapters vii, viii, 
and xi. 

33 Q. What remarkable answer did Daniel receive to 
this excellent prayer of his for the restoration of the Jews ? 

A. The angel Gabriel was ordered to fly swiftly, and to 
inform him of his own acceptance with God ; of the com- 
mandment of the kings of Persia to rebuild the holy city ; 
of the time of the coming, and the death of the Messiah to 
take away the sins of men ; and of the second destruction 
of Jerusalem, Dan. ix. 20 — 27. 

34 Q. What other eminent prophecies did Daniel receive 
by his converse with angels ] 

A, Besides the various events relating to this world, he 
had some predictions concerning the Christian church and 
its troubles, and the period of them ; concerning the resur- 
rection of the dead, everlasting life, and everlasting punish- 
ment, chap. xii. 



THE HISTORY OF ESTHER. 133 

CHAPTER XVIII. 4 

The History of Esther. 

1 Q. Who was Esther 1 

A. A beautiful young Jewish virgin, whose ancestors 
were carried captive by the king of Babylon, in the days of 
Jeconiah, king of Judah, Esther ii. 5, 6. 

2 Q. Where was she educated 1 

A. She was brought up in Shushan, the palace of the 
king of Persia, by Mordecai her first cousin, for her father 
and mother were dead, ver. 7. 

3 Q. To what honour was she advanced 1 

A. King Ahasuerus took her into his royal house, and 
made her queen in the room of his former queen Vashti, 
ver. 16, 17. ^ . 

Note. This Ahasuerus is supposed by Dr. Prideaux, and that with 
great probability, to be that second Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who 
was called Longimanus ; and who, perhaps, being influenced by 
Esther and Mordecai, gave a decree for Ezra to promote the building 
of the temple at Jerusalem, after the captivity in Babylon. See Chap. 
XIII. Quest. 9, and 13. 

4 Q. What was the occasion of Vashti's disgrace 1 

A. When the king had made a most magnificent feast for 
all his nobles and princes, he sent for Vashti, to show the 
princes her beauty, and to grace the festival, but she refused 
to come, Esther i. 10 — 12. 

5 Q. What service did Mordecai do for the king, which 
laid a foundation for his future advancement ? 

A. He gave information against two of the chamberlains, 
Bigthan and Teresh, who had conspired against the king, 
upon which they were tried and hanged, Esther ii. 21 — 23. 

6 Q. Who was made the king's chief favourite a little af- 
ter this time 1 

A. Haman, of the seed of Agag, the king of the Amale- 
kites, in the time of Saul, Esther iii. 1, 2. 1 Sam. xv. 8. 

7 Q. Wherein did Mordecai offend Haman ? 

A. He refused to bow before him, and do reverence to 
him, as the king's servants did at court, ver. 2. 

8 Q. How did Haman attempt to avenge himself? 

A. By persuading the king to send orders to destroy all 
the Jews that were in all his dominions, ver. 6, &c. 
M 



134 THE HISTORY OF ESTHER. 

9 Q. What did Mordecai do on this occasion 1 

A. He desired Esther the queen to venture into the king's 
presence, though she were not called, in order to petition 
the king for the lives of her people the Jews, Esther iv. 

10 Q. Did Esther comply with his request ] 

A. Though she knew it was death by the law to venture 
into the king's presence, unless he held out his golden 
sceptre to her, yet having first fasted and prayed to God 
three days, and appointed the Jews in Shushan to fast and 
pray, she ventured to approach the king, Esther v. 1. 

11 Q. What success did queen Esther find 1 

A. The king held out his golden sceptre to her, and pro- 
mised to grant her request, even to the half of his kingdom, 
ver. 1—3. 

12 Q. What was Esther's first request to the king 1 

A. That the king and Haman would come to a banquet 
which the queen had prepared for them, which request also 
she repeated the next day, Esther v. 3 — 8. 

13 Q. How was Haman employed on that day 1 

A. He rejoiced at the invitation that Esther gave him, 
and set up a gallows for Mordecai fifty cubits high, expect- 
ing that at his desire the king would order Mordecai to be 
hanged thereon, ver. 9 — 14. 

14 Q. How did the king pass the time that night? 

A. He could not sleep, and he had the book of records 
read to entertain him, wherein was written Mordecai's in- 
formation of the conspiracy against the king, Esther vi. 1, 2. 

15 Q. What effect had this on the king ! 

A. When he inquired and found that Mordecai had re- 
ceived no recompense for his faithfulness, he ordered Haman 
to array him in royal apparel, and set him on the king's 
own horse, and -do the highest honours to him in a public 
procession through the city, ver. 6 — 11. 

16 Q. In what remarkable hour did Haman receive this 
order from the king 1 

A. At that very time when he was come to court to speak 
to the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had set up, 
ver. 4, 5. 

17 Q. When the king and Haman were come to the ban- 
quet, what was queen Esther's further request? 

A. After ingeniously exposing the wickedness of Ha- 
man, she begged that the nation of the Jews, which were 



THE HISTORY OF ESTHER. 135 

her kindred, might be delivered from the general massacre 
that Haman had contrived for them, Esther vii. 1 — 7. 

18 Q. What change of affairs ensued on this petition to 
the king! 

A. He commanded Haman to be hanged on the gallows 
he had prepared for Mordecai ; he put Mordecai into Ha- 
inan's place at court ; and sent orders throughout his domi- 
nions for the Jews to defend themselves, Esther vii. 9, 10. 
and chap. viii. 1 — 17. 

19 Q. Why was not the order for the slaughter of the 
Jews rather reversed 1 

A. Because what is written in the king's name, and sealed 
with his ring, could not be reversed, according to the laws 
of the government, ver. 8, and God ordered it thus in his 
providence, for the public destruction of their enemies. 

20 Q. How did the Jews defend themselves in the day 
designed for their general slaughter 3 

A. They slew twenty-five thousand of those that rose up 
against them, and the ten sons of Haman among the rest, 
Esther ix. 1—16. 

21 Q. What memorial of this great deliverance was pre- 
served amongst the Jews 1 

A. All the Jews agreed, by and with the authority of 
Esther and Mordecai, to keep the 14th and 15th day of the 
month Adar, every year, as a day of thanksgiving for this 
salvation, ver. 20-—32. 

22 Q. What was the name of this festival 1 

A. These two days were called the days of Purim, which 
is the plural number of Pur, and signifies the lots, because 
Haman had cast lots in a superstitious manner, to find out 
what month or day was the most lucky to execute his 
bloody device against the Jews, Esther ix. 26, 27, and ch. 
iii. 7. 

23 Q. How does this history appear to be a true account 
of things, since there is not the least hint who was the writer 
of it, nor is the name of God in it? 

A. Because it is delivered down to us among the sacred 
writings by the Jews themselves, who were the keepers of 
the oracles of God, Rom. iii. 2, and because this feast of 
Purim is observed by the Jews to this day, in memory of 
their deliverance. 

THE END OF THE HISTORIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



136 SYNAGOGUES, TARGUMS, 
CHAPTER XIX. 






A Continuation of the History of the Government and 
Church of the Jews, from the end of the Old Testament, 
to the times of Christ. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The learned Dr. Prideaux has written two large and valuable vo- 
lumes, which he calls the connexion of the history of the Old and 
New Testaments ; wherein he gives us an account of all the most 
credible things that he can find in ancient historians, relating to the 
Jews and their customs ; as well as their history, during that period 
of time between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of 
the New. He intermingles also a large collection of historical matters 
relating to Persia, Babylon, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, 
and all the more known and remarkable nations of the earth, wherein 
the great affairs of the four monarchies of the world were transacted. 
This renders this work a little too tedious to those who expected no- 
thing more than a mere continuation of the Jewish History to the times 
of our Saviour. 

Now it is only a very brief abstract of the History of the Jews which 
I endeavour here to set before the reader, that he may gain a little ac- 
quaintance with the affairs of the Jews, or the church of God, from 
the days of Nehemiah, when Scripture history ends, to the beginning 
of the Gospel, and the times of Christ. A great part of it must be taken 
originally from Josephus the Jewish historian, aad from the books of 
Maccabees, whom I have consulted upon this occasion ; but I have 
borrowed much further light and assistance from Dr. Prideaux in this 
matter, whose laborious collection from heathen writings, and his ju- 
dicious determination in many dubious points, has rendered his work 
more complete and accurate, and mine more easy. 

Sect. I. — Of NehemiaK s farther reformation, Synagogues, 
Targums, Samaritans, Proselytes, <$*c. 

This Chapter being so long, the questions of each Section shall be 
numbered apart. 

1 Q. What further reformation did Nehemiah make in 
Israel 1 

A. It is reported by the Jews, that he himself, together 
with Ezra the scribe, having found a great want of the 
knowledge of the law among the people, did about this time 
appoint the Beading of the law in the several towns and ci- 
ties. And on this occasion, it is supposed, that synagogues 



SAMARITANS, PROSELYTES, &c. 137 

began to be built throughout the land, or at least to be re- 
stored and renewed, if there had been any built before. 

2 Q. Where were the synagogues to be built ] 

A. According to the accounts which the Jews have given 
us, they might be built in any town wheresoever they could 
rind ten persons of full age, and of such condition and easy 
circumstances of life, as to be always at leisure to attend 
the service. 

3 Q. What was the service performed in the syna- 
gogues ? 

A. Prayer and praises to God, reading the holy scriptures, 
and preaching and expounding them. 

4 Q. In what manner were the scriptures expounded 1 
A. The Jews and their posterity having lost much of their 

own language in Babylon, did not so well understand the 
scriptures in the Hebrew tongue ; and therefore when Ezra 
read the law to the people, the sense was given to them in 
Chaldee, by many Levites who stood by and caused them to 
understand the reading, Nehem. viii. 4 — 8. And this man- 
ner of reading the scripture, verse by _ verse, and translating 
it into the Chaldee, with some little paraphrase upon it, 
was the manner of expounding used in the ancient syna- 
gogues. 

Note 1. This was the original of the Jewish targurns, which word 
in Chaldee signifies an interpretation. For when synagogues wen? 
multiplied among the Jews beyond the number of able interpreters, it 
became necessary that such translations of the Hebrew into Chaldee 
should be made, for the use of the teachers and the people, and that 
in private families also, as well as in synagogues. 

There were anciently many of these targurns, or translations, or 
expositions, and that upon different parti of scripture, and of different 
sorts j as there were also many different versions of the scripture into 
Greek, in the following ages, for the same purposes. Several of these 
targurns are lost, through length of time ; but the chief of those which 
remain to this day, is tin; targum or Chaldee paraphrase of Onkelos, 
upon the law of Moses; and the targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel 
upon the prophets ; both which, some learned men suppose to be written 
before Christ; and are by the Jews valued as equal to the Hebrew 
text. As for the Jerusalem targum, it is an exposition upon the law ; 
and others are on different parts of scripture; but they are of less 
esteem and much later date. But neither the one nor the other of the 
targurns, were much known to the primitive Christian writers, though 
the expositions greatly favour the Christian cause. 

Note 2. Among the Jews, the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, 
and Kings, &<•. are sometimes called the former prophets ; and the 
m2 



138 SYNAGOGUES, TARGUMS, 

books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets, 
are called the latter prophets; but they are all called the prophets : 
thus the law and the prophets make up the whole bible. 

Note 3. That there are in Daniel two hundred verses of the bible 
written originally in Chaldee, and sixty-seven in Ezra, and one verse 
in Jeremiah, namely ver. 11. chap. ^c. And some suppose for this rea- 
son, there is no targum on Daniel and Ezra, neither indeed is there on 
Nehemiah, though that book is called Hebrew. 

Note 4. That the language of the Jews was in some measure cor- 
rupted by a mixture of Chaldaic words, during the Babylonish 
captivity, there can be no reasonable doubt ; but tho£ the great body 
of the people retained a pretty good knowledge of Hebrew, seems 
proved by the fact of the laws being read in thpir hearing after their 
return, which would have been useless had they not considerable 
acquaintance with it : and 2, by the fact, that Jehovah after this ad- 
dressed them through Haggai, Zecharis, and Malachi, in pure 
Hebrew. 

5 Q. What were the times appointed for this service in 
the synagogues 3 

. A. Two days in the week, besides the Sabbath and their 
other festivals : the law being divided into so many sections 
or lessons as there are weeks in their year, they read half a 
lesson on Monday morning, and the other half on Thursday 
morning; and this same whole lesson they read on the Sab- 
bath, both morning and afternoon, Acts 15, 21. We are 
told that reading the law was a custom of ancient times 
on the Sabbath; and when reading of the prophets was 
added to that of the law, they observed the same order in it. 

6 Q. What were the hours of their daily prayer I 

A. At the time of morning and evening sacrifice and in- 
cense, Luke i. 9, 10. Acts iii. 1. While Zacharias was 
offering incense, the people were praying in the court. And 
Peter and John went up to pray in the temple at this time. 
To these hours they conformed their prayers in the temple, 
and in their synagogues, and usually too in their own 
houses. 

Note. The Jews supposed that the offering up of the daily sacrifices, 
and the burning of incense at the same time, were designed to render 
God propitious to them, and make their prayers acceptable ; and for 
this reason they conformed their times of prayer to these hours. So 
David prays. Psalm cxli. 2 — Let my prayer be set forth before thee as 
incense, &c. And Rev. viii. 4, 5— And the smoke of the incense 
which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God 
-U of the angel's hands. g 



SAMARITANS, PROSELYTES, &c. ia9 

7 Q. Had they any other season of prayer 1 

A. Tne Jews inform us, that besides these they had a 
prayer at the beginning of night, while the evening sacrifice 
was left burning on the altar. Thus, by their three prayers 
in a day, they imitated the ancients ; David prayed morn- 
ing, noon, and evening, Psalm lvii. 17. Daniel prayed three 
times a day, Dan. vi. 10. 

8 Q. Who ministered in the service of the synagogues 1 
A. The priests and Levites were consecrated to the ser- 
vice of the temple, but for service of the synagogue, per- 
sons of any tribe were appointed by some elders of that 
town, who were called rulers of the synagogue. So our 
Saviour being of the tribe of Judah, read and expounded in 
the synagogue, Luke iv. 16. So after reading the law and 
the prophets, Paul and Silas engaged in preaching, when 
the ma3ter of the synagogue asked them for a word of ex- 
hortation to the people, Acts xiii 15. 

9 Q. But were there not otner places of prayer distinct 
from the synagogues I 

A. The synagogues were sometimes called prayer houses, 
yet there were prayer-houses called proscuchai, which dif- 
fered from synagogues in three respects. (1.) Synagogues 
were built for public worship, but these places of prayer for 
any one's private devotions occasionally. (2.) Synagogues 
were covered hoi^es, but the places of prayer were courts 
or inclosure-s with walls, and open to the sky. (3.) Syna- 
gogues w&'e chiefly in towns and cities, the prayer-houses 
in open fcWs or on mountains : such are mentioned where 
oar Saviour spent a whole night in the prayer-house, as 
it shotf-d 2>e translated, Luke vi. 12, and thither pious per- 
sons resorted, and prayer was icont to be made, Acts xvi. 
13, ±6. 

10 Q. Is there any certainty that there were any syna- 
gogues before this time ? 

A. That there were some places of assembly for divine 
things in the land of Israel, before the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem and the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, seems pretty plain 
from Psalm lxxiv. 7, 8. They have burnt up all the syna- 
gogues of God in the land. Though they might be but 
very few, and not established by any authority, nor so con- 
stantly attended as afterward. And yet, considering that 
the Jews fell so frequently into idolatry before, and had so 



140 SYNAGOGUES, TARGUMS, 

few copies of the law, it is questioned by some learned men, 
whether there were any such synagogues at all in the land 
of Israel till after the Babylonish captivity. 

11 Q. What eminent and remarkable service was done 
at these public places of worship 1 

A. It is supposed that frequent public readings of the law 
in the synagogues, after that time, were a special means to 
excite and preserve in the people of the Jews that universal 
and perpetual hatred of idolatry, to which they were so 
shamefully prone before ; and it did also diffuse and maintain 
the knowledge of true religion and virtue in the land. 

12 Q. Were, these synagogues built any where besides 
in Judea 1 

A. When the Jews were afterwards scattered abroad 
into various nations, they built places of worship for them- 
selves, wheresoever the rulers of the country would permit 
them. 

13 Q. Of what advantage were these synagogues to the 
heathens, or afterward to Christianity % 

A. It was by means of these synagogues that the heathens, 
where the Jews were dispersed, came to know the true 
God, and some genera) principles of virtue and piety, 
and became proselytes of the gate-, ani by these public 
places and seasons of worship, there vas ifterward an op- 
portunity given to publish the gospel of Chriat by the Apos- 
tles, both among the Jews and Gentiles, Acts xvi. 1, 3, 
and xix. 8. 

14 Q. What is meant by proselytes of the gat? ? 

A. Those Gentiles who renounced idolatry, and received 
the knowledge and the worship of the one true God,the God 
of Israel, and, (as some affirm,) they received also tht rules 
of abstaining from blood, and things strangled, and things 
offered to idols, which were forbidden, Acts xv, to the Gen- 
tile converts to Christianity. 

Note. These rules with a few others, have beer usually called 
the seven precepts of Noah, which the Jews make as necessary for all 
the world to obey, as the law T of Moses was for them. And doubtless 
the laws given to Noah, were given to all the world, because all 
sprang from him. 

15 Q. Why were they called proselytes of the gate ? 

A. The word proselyte signifies " one that embraces a 
new religion," and they were called proselytes of the gate, 



SAMARITANS, PROSELYTES, &c. HI 

because they were suffered to live within the gates of the 
Jews, according to the expression in the fourth command- 
ment. The stranger ivhich is toithin thy gates. They 
were also permitted by the Jews to enter the outward court 
of the temple called the court of the Gentiles, when that 
was built, and to worship God there; but they were ex- 
cluded from the gate of the inner court. 

Note. These are they who in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, 
are supposed by some to be called the devout persons, and those who 
feared God, &c. Acts x. 17, and chap. xiii. 50 ; and xvii. 4, and xiii. 16. 
Among these was the chief harvest of the first Christian converts ; 
though there might be many persons too, who worshipped the one 
true God, who were under no proselytism to the Jewish church. 

16 Q. What were the other sort of 'proselytes? 

A. They were such Gentiles as consented to be circum- 
cised, and obliged themselves to practise all the laws of 
Moses, Gal. v. 3 ; therefore they were called proselytes of 
righteousness : They were taken into the Jewish nation, 
and united with them; and were, also called proselytes of 
the temple, because they were admitted by the Jews into 
the inner courts. 

Note. This distinction of proselytes has been supported by the 
common opinion of near two himdred years ; but since it is said to 
have no better foundation than the Babylonish talmud, it is doubted 
by some learned men wnether there were any proselytes, either under 
the Old or New Testament, besides those who were circumcised and 
complete. / 

17 Q. Having heard this particular account of syna- 
gogues and proselytes, proceed now to say what was the 
last act of Nehemiah's reformation, which we read of in 
scripture 1 

A. That he turned out Manasseh, the son or grandson of 
the high priest, for marrying the daughter of Sanballat, the 
Horonite, Neh. xiii. 28. 

18 Q. What did Sanballat do with his son-in-law Manas- 
seh, on this occasion 1 

A. He procured a grant from Darius Nothus, who was 
now king of Persia, to build on mount Gerizim, near Sa- 
maria, a temple like that at Jerusalem, and to make Manas- 
seh his son-in-law the high priest of it 1 

19 Q. What was the consequence of this practice ? 



142 SYNAGOGUES, TARGUMS, &c. 

A. Samaria thenceforth became the refuge of the rebel- 
lious Jews, who were called to account for breaking the 
sabbath, eating unclean meats, or were found guilty in sin- 
ning against the law in any remarkable instances. 

20 Q. What change was wrought hereby among the Sa- 
maritans ] 

A. Their first original was from some eastern heathens, 
who were planted there by the king of Assyria, after the 
captivity of Israel; but when, on several occasions, the Jews 
flocked to them, it made a considerable change in their reli- 
gion: for though before they worshipped the God of Israel, 
in conjunction with other gods, 2 Kings xvii. 24 — 41, they 
now cast off their idolatry : And since a temple* was built 
amongst them, in which the Jewish service was performed, 
and the law of Moses read publicly, they came much nearer 
to the worship of the true God, prescribed in scripture. 

21 Q. Did not the Jews love them the better on this ac- 
count] 

A. No, by no means; but they hated them grievously: 
The enmity that began from the opposition which the Sa- 
maritans made to the Jews in their rebuilding Jerusalem 
and the temple, was so exceedingly increased by their shel- 
tering all the rebellious Jews, that the Jews at Jerusalem 
published the bitterest curse against them that ever was 
denounced against any people. 

22 Q. What miseries Were contained in this curse] 

A. The Jews forbad all communication with the Samari- 
tans ; declared all the fruits of their land, and their cattle 
unclean ; excluded them from ever being received as prose- 
lytes, and barred them, as far as possible, from having any 
portion in the resurrection of the dead to eternal life. 

23 Q. What appearance of this great enmity do we find 
in the New Testament ] 

A. This seems to be confirmed by the words of scripture, 
John iv. 9. The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 
And the woman of Samaria asked our Saviour, How is it 
that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a woman 
of Samaria? And when the Jews would give the worst 
name they could to our Saviour, they said, Thou art a Sa- 

* This temple was built on mount Gerizim, near Samaria, by San- 
ballat, who made his son-in-law Manasseh high priest of it. 



THE JEWS UNDER THE PERSIANS. 143 

maritan, and hast a devil, John viii. 48.* Ecclesiast. v. 
25, 26. 

Sect. II. Of the Jewish affairs under the Persian and 
Grecian monarchies. 

1 Q. How were the Jews governed after the death of 
Nehemiah ? , 

A. We find not any more particular governors of Judea, 
made by the kings or emperors of Persia ; but Judea seems 
to be made subject to those whom the Persian king made 
governors of Syria; and that, under them, the regulation of 
affairs was committed to the high priest ; so that he had all 
the sacred authority, and the civil power also, in a good 
measure, under the Syrian governor. 

2 Q. Did the high priests continue their regular succes- 
sions, as to the eldest of Aaron's family? 

A. This succession was sometimes interrupted by the 
emperors of the world, or their deputed governors of the 
provinces, appointing another person to take that office. 

3 Q. What is the first remarkable instance of that kind ? 
A. When Johanan and Jonathan, the son of Joiada, Neh. 

xii. 11, had possessed the royal priesthood several years, 
Bagoses the governor of Syria, appointed his younger bro- 
ther Jeshua, to depose him, and take the priesthood; upon 
which there was a tumult in the inner court of the temple, 
and Johanan slew Jeshua there. 

4 Q. How did Bagoses, the governor, resent this 1 

A. He entered into the inner court of the temple, though 
the Jews forbad him, as being unclean ; but he told them he 
was purer than the dead carcase of him whom they had slain 
there ; and imposed on the priests a fine of about thirty-one 
shillings for every lamb that was offered throughout the 
year : which tribute, however, ceased at the end of seven 
years, when a new governor succeeded. 

5 Q. What was the next more famous difficulty and deli- 
verance which the Jews met with] 

A. They were most remarkably saved from the oppres- 

* According to the decree of Cyrus, the tribute of Samaria was as- 
signed to the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem ,* and hence the 
hostility and the machinations of the Samaritans against the Jews. 



144 THE JEWS UNDER THE PERSIANS. 

sion and resentment of Alexander the Great, who was king 
of Macedonia in Greece, when they had refused to assist 
him in the siege of Tyrus. 

6 Q. In what manner were they delivered } 

A. When Alexander marched against Jerusalem, design- 
ing to punish the Jews on this account, Jaddua the high 
priest, the son of Johanan, being directed by a night vision, 
met the conqueror in his priestly robes, , with the other 
priests attending him in proper .habits, and all the people in 
white garments. Alexander being struck with this sight, 
saluted the high priest with a religious veneration, embraced 
him, entered Jerusalem in a friendly manner, and offered 
sacrifice to God in the temple, for his late victories. 

7 Q. How came Alexander so suddenly to change his 
purpose, and behave with so much mildness ? 

A. Alexander declared, that he himself, in Macedonia, 
had seen this very same person, thus habited, in a night 
vision, encouraging him to pursue his expedition against 
the Persians, and promising him success. 

8 Q. What further favours did x\lexander show the 
Jews 1 

A. When Jaddua, the high priest, had shown him the 
prophecies of Daniel, particularly chap. viii. ver. 21, where 
the he-goat is interpreted to be the king of Grecia, who 
should conquer the Medes and Persians ; and chap. xi. 3, he 
bid the Jews ask what they had to desire of him : and, ac- 
cording to their request, he granted them the liberty of 
their own laws and religion, and freedom from tribute or 
taxes every seventh year, because then they neither sowed 
or reaped. The Samaritans begged of Alexander the same 
exemption, but it was not granted them, though they were 
his auxiliary in the war. 

9 Q. Did Alexander succeed in his following wars, and 
his attempts against the Persian empire, according to the 
Jewish prophecy? 

A. When he departed out of Judea and Palestine, he 
marched into Egypt, which speedily submitted to him : there_ 
he built the city Alexandria, and peopled it with several na- 
tions, among them were many Jews, to whom he gave the 
same privileges as to his own Macedonians. The next 
spring he hastened to find out Darius Codomannus, king of 
Persia, whom he had routed once before, and he now van- 



OF THE JEWISH AFFAIRS, &c. 145 

quished him in a final decisive battle near Arbela, and be- 
came master of the Persian empire. 

10 Q. How long did he reign after this battle 1 

A. He went on and conquered India ; but in five years 
time he fell into such riot and drunkenness that he put an 
end to his life ; though others say he was poisoned. 

11 Q. What became of the Jews after Alexander's 
death? 

A. A little after the death of Alexander, four of his gene- 
rals divided his empire, who were the four horns of the he- 
goat mentioned by the prophet Daniel, which grew up after 
breaking the first horn, Dan. viii. 22, and chap. xi. 4, and 
the Jews fell under the dominion of Ptolemy, afterwards 
surnamed Soter, who had Egypt, Arabia, Casio-Syria, and 
Palestine, or the land of Israel, for his share. 

Here it may be observed, that as Ptolemy had Egypt, Palestine, 
&c. for his share, so Cassander had Macedonia and Greece ; Lysima- 
chus had Thrace, and Bithynia, and some other provinces thereabout; 
Seleucus had Syria, and the northern and eastern province in Asia. 
Thus was the empire of Alexander the Great divided among his 
generals. 

Sect. III. Of the Jewish affairs under Ptolemy Soter, 
Ptolemy Philadelphus, and Ptolemy Philopater, kings of 
Egypt. Of the great Synagogues, the Jewish Tradi- 
tions, their Mishnah and Talmud ; and of the Septua- 
gint translation of the Bible into Greek. 

1 Q. How did Ptolemy, king of Egypt, deal with the Jews ? 
A. Ptolemy, designing to make Alexandria, which was 

built by Alexander, in Egypt, his capital city, he persuaded 
a multitude of Jews to settle there, granting them the same 
privileges as Alexander had done before them ; whence it 
came to pass, that Alexandria had a great number of Jews 
still flocking to it. 

2 Q. What remarkable story is related of one Mosollam, 
a Jew, who followed Ptolemy about this time 1 

A. When a certain soothsayer, or cunning man, advised 
a Jewish troop of horse, in which Mosollam rode, to stand 
still, upon the sight of a bird in the way, and told them, 
they should either go backward or forward, as that bird 
took its flight ; the Jew, being a great archer, immediately 
shot the bird with an arrow, and said, " How could that poor 

N 



146 THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE, 

wretched bird foreshow us our fortune, which knew nothing 
of its own !" Hereby he designed to expose and condemn 
the superstition of the heathens. . 

3 Q. How did it fare with the Jews that were dispersed 

about Babylon 1 , , . , , , 

A Seleucus, another of Alexander's generals, who ruled 
in the greater and lesser Asia, built many cities; sixteen 
of which he called Antioch, from Antiochus his father ; nine 
were called Seleucia, from his own name; six Laodicea, 
from the name Laodice, his mother; others Apamea and 
Stratonice, from his wives; in all which he planted Jews, 
and gave them equal privileges with the Greeks or Macedo- 
nians, especially at Antioch in Syria, where they settled in 
great numbers. . T 

4 Q. What considerable person rose among the Jews at 
Jerusalem about this time ? . 

A Simon the Just, who is spoken of so honourably in the 
fifteenth chapter of Ecclesiastic us. He was high priest ot 
the Jews nine years, and merited the surname of the Just 
bv his crreat holiness towards God, and justice towards men, 
and he was the last of the men of the great Synagogue. 

5 Q. What was this great Synagogue, and who were 
the men that composed it? 

A An hundred and twenty elders, who, in a continued 
succession after the return of the Jews from Babylon, la- 
boured in restoring the Jewish church and state; and made 
it their chief care to publish the scriptures to the people 
with great accuracy. 

6 Q. W T hat part of this work is attributed to Simon ? 

A. It is supposed by some learned men, that he added the 
two books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and the 
prophecv of Malachi, to the canon of scripture ; which 
books were scarcely supposed to be inserted by Ezra be- 
cause several of them are thought to be written by Ezra 
himself; and the books of Nehemiah and Malachi were 
most likely written after Ezra s time. 

7Q Did the Jews after this time, when the Ulci lesta- 
ment was completed, religiously confine themselves to the 
doctrine of scripture 1 ., . 

A. After this time their traditions began to prevail , that 
is, the sayings of the ancients delivered down by tradi- 



tion. 



THE MISHNAH, TALMUD. 147 

Note. Though traditions prevailed about this time, yet the mishnah, 
which is their secondary law, or a collection of traditions, and which 
they pretend to be dictated from God to Moses ; was not compiled 
and put together till above a hundred and fifty years after the time of 
Christ by Rabbi Judah Hakkadesh : and this mishnah, together with 
their comments on these things, ore called the talmud. 

Note. There are two talmuds; that of Jerusalem, which was 
complete about three hundred years after Christ, and that of Babylon, 
about five hundred yeare : but each of them have the same mishnah, 
though with different comments, which comments are called the 
gemara. 

8 Q. Who were the chief teachers of this secondary law 
of traditions'? 

A. Antigonus of Socho was the first of thern, who being 
an eminent scribe in the law of God, was president of the 
Sanhedrim, or senate of the Elders at Jerusalem, great 
master of the Jewish school, and a teacher of righteousness 
to the people, and of these traditions. Afterward, all the 
teachers or doctors of the Jewish law, were in the New 
Testament sometimes called scribes, sometimes lawyers, or 
those who sat in Moses' seat. 

9 Q. What special honour was paid to these men 1 

A. Besides other respects showed them by the people, 
w r ho call them Rabbi, and highly esteemed them, it was out 
of these doctors that the great sanhedrim, or council of 
seventy-two, was chosen, to govern the whole nation ; and 
the lesser council of twenty-three, which was in every city 
of Judea. 

Note. These were called rulers, or elders, or counsellors ; such 
were Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Gamaliel. 

Note. Here also, that in the Jewish talmudical books, or their fa- 
bulous writings, on which we cannot much depend, we are told that 
about this lime one Sadoc mistook the doctrine of Antigonus, of So- 
cho, his master, who taught, " that we ought not to serve God in a 
servile manner, merely with respect to the reward;" and inferred 
from hence, that there were no rewards after this life, and begun the 
sect of the Sadducees : though it may be justly doubted, whether 
this, and other dangerous doctrines "of this sect, arose so early 
among the Jews. 

10 Q. Since the Jews were dispersed into so many coun- 
tries, did they not acquaint the Gentiles with their religion ! 

A. Yes, for Ptolemy Soter set up a college of learned men 
at Alexandria in Egypt, and begun a library there ; which 
Ptolemy Philadelphus, his youngest son and successor, im- 
proved to one hundred thousand volumes. This prince is 



148 SEPTUAGINT TRANSLATION. 

reported to have commanded the Hebrew law to be trans- 
lated into Greek, to add to this library of his, that the Gen- 
tiles might read it ; and accordingly it was done. 

Note. This college of learned men was encouraged, and the library 
increased by several Ptolemies successively, till it arose to seven 
hundred thousand books. Both these things made Alexandria a fa- 
mous place of residence and resort for learned men for several ages. 
It happened that the larger half of this library was burnt by Julius 
Csesar in his Alexandrian war. The other part was, by continual 
recruits, enlarging to a vaster number than the whole library before ; 
but it was finally burnt and destroyed by the Saracens, in the year 
of our Lord 642. 

11 Q. In what manner is this translation reported to be 
made? 

A. Aristeas, the most ancient writer on this subject, and 
Josephus the historian, who follows him, acquaints us, that 
after this Ptolemy had gained the favour of the Jews, by 
paying the ransom of a hundred thousand of their country- 
men, who were enslaved in Egypt, he obtained a true copy 
of the scriptures from the high priest at Jerusalem, and pro- 
cured six elders out of every tribe of Israel, (so that they 
were in all seventy-two) to come to his court ; and after 
a trial of their wisdom, by some particular question being 
put to each of them, he appointed them to translate the law 
of Moses, by conferring together about the sense of it, in the 
Isle of Pharos ; which being afterwards read to him, and 
approved by him, he gave them a liberal reward. Upon this 
account this translation is called the septuagint, that is, the 
translation of the seventy, or seventy-two elders. 

12 Q. But did not this story in following times, grow much 
more fabulous I 

A. Philo the Jew, who lived about our Saviour's time, re- 
ports, that each of these seventy-two elders were put into a 
distinct cell, and were required to translate the whole Bible 
apart ; and that they performed it so exactly alike, word for 
word, that it was approved as miraculous and divine : and 
even several fathers of the Christian church, as Justin Mar- 
tyr, &c. being too credulous and fond of miracles, have 
received this story, and conveyed it down in their wri- 
tings. 

13 Q. How doth it appear to be a fable ? 

A. The great imperfection of this translation, discovers 
that it was no divine work, nor performed by miracle : be- 



SEPTUAGINT TRANSLATION. 149 

sides, the several contradictious, and the uncertainties that 
are mingled up and down with this story, do utterly over- 
throw the credit of it. 

14 Q, Upon the whole view of things, what is the best 
account of this translation 1 

A. In the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, there was such 
a version made of the five books of Moses, by the Jews of 
Alexandria, into the Greek language, probably for their own 
-use, and for the use of their countrymen ; for the Jews in 
their dispersions had used themselves to the Greek tongue, 
the conquests of Alexander and his Grecian army having 
spread their language through the world ; and when Ptole- 
my Philadelphus had erected such a noble library, he was 
desirous to have this book deposited. — Whether his request 
or command gave any occasion to this translation, is hard to 
determine. 

15 Q. Were not the other sacred writings translated 
into Greek also, as well as the five books of Moses? 

A. When the reading of the prophets, as well as the law, 
came into use in the synagogues, many years afterwards, in 
the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, this occasioned a Greek 
translation of the prophets to be made ; and so the whole 
Old Testament was complete, which we now call the septu- 
agint. 

16. Q. Did the Jews generally come to use this transla- 
tion of the Bible? 

A. In and after the time of Ezra, the scriptures were 
read to the Jews in Hebrew, and interpreted into the Chal- 
dee language, which they had learnt in Babylon, and was 
become most familiar to them. But at Alexandria, after the 
making of this Greek version, it was afterwards interpreted 
to them in Greek, which was done also in all other Grecian 
cities, whither the Jews were dispersed. And from hence 
those Jews were called Hellenists, or Grecizing Jews, be- 
cause they used the Greek language in their synagogues, 
and by that name they were distinguished from the Hebrew 
Jews, who used only the Hebrew and Chaldee languages in 
their synagogues. And this distinction we find made be- 
tween them, Acts vi. 1. For the word which we there 
translate Grecians, is in the original »eaa.jj* s « I v that is Hellen- 
ists. See Dr. Prideaux. 

17 Q. But did not the evangelists and the apostles, who 
n 2 



THE JEWS ONPEK riiK ptolkmies. 

writers ot* the New Testament, pay great ho 
nour to this Greek translation 

\ Yes. i .oturesof the Old Testament. 

[ding to this translation, because it was the best Greek 

ation they hae! ; aiul it was by this tune well known 

\\s in Jiuiea. as well as those who were 

IS Q. Oul the Jews in Jiuiea continue in peace under 
the government el" the kings ot' Kgvpt, 

A. The siu'eessors ot the tour generals of Alexander the 
Great, who divided the world amongst them, and particular- 
ly the kings ot* Kgypt and Syria, being frequently engaged 

teir kingdoms, the Jews were re- 
duced to v*er\ great ditn\mltie*s and sometimes were at a loss 
\ were in danger on both sides, and 
were sometimes distressed and miserably grinded b et w ee n 
: ■.-.' /-.-.e and the other. 

\9 Q. Hid they m; of tlieir temple and 

A. s difficulties on 

When I'tolemj Phi 
over those p ; . offer up sacrifices to tht 

of Israel ist Antiochus the Great, the 

s-.uvosso: of Soleuous, king of Syria: and be WIS net eon- 
tent to stay in the outer court, but he would have pressed 

ely of holies, 
H Q. Hew was ted from enter;: 

A Btsandths and all t. lifted 

to God in prayer; and when the king had 
passed the inner court, aw itering into the temp 

\1, with such terror an 
mind, that he w 
21 Q. But did resent this after wards! 

\ He proposed : need on all the Jewish nation; 

Alexandria, tcrifice 

>; and if they refused, he to their privi- 

leges, which they had enjoyed in Egypt from the tin 
.:. lie ordered them to be em 

Lind to have the mark 

Mtot part of the i • - nade Iran 

m\ uae in the Greek and La- 



THE JEWS UNDER THE PTOLEMIES. 151 

of an ivy-leaf, the badge of his god Bacchus, impressed upon 
them by a hot iron ; and those who refused it, should be 
made slaves, or put to death. 

22 Q. What did the Jews of Alexandria do on this occa- 
sion] 

A. About three hundred of them forsook their God to gain 
the favour of their king : but many thousands stood firm to 
their religion ; and though several of them were enrolled, 
and branded with the ivy-leaf against their will, yet they 
showed a great abhorrence of all their countrymen that sa- 
crificed to the gods of the king. 

23 Q. How did Ptolemy bear with this conduct of theirs? 
A. He resolved to destroy the whole nation of the Jews; 

and therefore, first he ordered all that lived any where in 
Egypt, to be brought in chains to Alexandria to be slain by 
his elephants. 

24 Q. And were they destroyed according to the king's 
appointment 1 

A. The elephants being made drunk with wine and 
frankincense, and let loose upon them in the hippodrome, 
instead of falling upon the Jews, they turned all their rage 
upon the spectators, and destroyed great numbers of them. 

25 Q. What influence had this upon the king? 

A. He durst no longer prosecute his rage against them ; 
but fearing the vengeance of the God of Israel upon him- 
self, he revoked his cruel decrees, restored their privileges, 
and gave leave to put to death the Jews that had abandoned 
their religion, and worshipped idols. 

Note. This story is found in that which is called the third book 
of Maccabees, written by some ancient Jew under that title, because 
it gives an account of the persecution and deliverance of the Jews, as 
the first and second books of Maccabees do. Though this was trans- 
acted long before the name of Maccabees arose ; and therefore it 
ought rather to have been called the first book than the third. It is 
not found among our Apocryphal books, because it was never inserted 
in the vulgar Latin version of the Bible, but it is found in many of 
the manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint, and particularly that of the 
Alexandrian manuscript in the king's library ; it is also found in the 
Latin edition of Josephus against Apion by Ruffinus. 

Sect. IV. Of the Jewish affairs under Antiochus the Great, 
Seleucus, and Antiochus Epiphanes, Kings of Syria. 

1 Q. Did the Jews afterwards at Jerusalem continue 



152 THE JEWS UNDER THE ANTIOCHUS'S 

under the government of the Ptolemies, who were kings of 
Egypt? 

A. When Ptolemy Philopater was dead, and Ptolemy 
Epiphanes came to the crown, the Jews having been greatly 
persecuted by the Ptolemies, submitted themselves to Antio- 
chus the Great, king of Syria ; and when he came to Jeru- 
salem in a solemn procession, they went to meet him, and 
received him gladly. 

2 Q. How did Antiochus reward them 1 

A. He granted them many privileges, as he had done to 
their countrymen who were settled in Babylonia and Meso- 
potamia, having always found the men of that nation faith- 
ful to him. 

3 Q. What confidence did he put in them on this ac- 
count? 

A. He transported several of them from Babylonia to the 
lesser Asia, to keep his forts and garrisons, and gave them 
good settlements there : whence sprang a great part of the 
Jews that were found in that country in the apostles' times. 

4 Q. What remarkable events fell out in the days of 
Seleucus Philopater, son and successor to Antiochus the 
Great 1 

A. Simon, a Benjamite, being made governor of the tem- 
ple, some difference arose between him and Onias the third, 
the high priest, an excellent man, concerning some disor- 
ders in the city : and when Simon could not obtain his will, 
he informed Apollonius, the governor of the province under 
Seleucus, that great treasures were hid in the temple; 
whereupon Heliodorus, the treasurer, was sent to seize 
them. 

5 Q. How did the hand of God appear against Heliodo- 
rus in his attempt to enter the temple? 

A. The priests and the people made great outcries and 
supplications to God ; upon which Heliodorus is reported to 
have seen a vision of a horse, with a terrible rider upon 
him, who smote Heliodorus with his fore- feet; and two 
young men appeared who scourged him sorely : upon which 
Heliodorus fell suddenly to the ground in darkness and con- 
fusion ; but being restored by the prayers of Onias, he 
acknowledged the power of God, and departed from the 
city. 

Read this story more at large, 2 Maccabees, chapter iii. I confess it 



KINGS OF SYRIA. 153 

seems to have something a little fabulous in the air of it, as also other 
stories in that book. 

6 Q. How came so good a man as Onias to be turned 
out of his priesthood 1 

A. When Antiochus Epiphanes succeeded his brother 
Seleucus in the kingdom of Syria, Jason bribed him with a 
large sum of money to turn out his own brother Onias, 
banish him to Antioch, and confer the priesthood on him- 
self; not that he affected it as it was a religious office, but 
as it included the power of civil government, 2 Maccabees 
iv. 7. 

7 Q. What did this wicked Jason do when he was high 
priest? 

A. He erected a place of exercise at Jerusalem, for train- 
ing up youth according to the fashion of the Greeks, and 
made as many of them as he could, forsake the religious 
customs and usages of their forefathers, and conform them- 
selves in many things to the customs and ceremonies of the 
heathens, ver. 9, &c. 

8 Q. What became of this Jason ? 

A. A few years after, when he employed Menelaus his 
brother to pay his tribute at the Syrian court, he was sup- 
planted by him, for Menelaus by bribery obtained the priest- 
hood, and put Jason to flight. 

9 Q. Did Menelaus behave himself better in his office 1 
A. He was worse than Jason, and stole some of the ves- 
sels of gold out of the temple ; he went to Antioch, where 
he was reproved by Onias, who was yet living, for his 
wickedness, and out of revenge procured Onias to be slain 
by Andronicus, who for this murder was put to death by 
the king Antiochus. 

10 Q. What was done at Jerusalem in the meantime ? 

A. Lysimachus being left as a deputy by Menelaus, prac- 
tised many sacrileges on the vessels of the temple, which 
occasioned a great insurrection in the city, wherein multi- 
tudes on the part of Lysimachus were wounded and slain, 
and the church-robber himself was killed. 

11 Q. Did Jason ever return again to Jerusalem 1 

A. When there was a false report of the death of Antio- 
chus, Jason with a thousand men assaulted the city, and 
slew many citizens, but was at last put to flight; and being 
driven from country to country, and from city to city, he 



154 THE JEWS UNDER THE ANTIOCHUS'S 

perished in a strange land, without the honour of a burial, 
2 Mace. v. 5—10. 

12 Q. Did Antiochus the king suffer these things to pass 
unresented 1 

A. Upon the report of such a tumult in Jerusalem, he 
imagined that Judea had revolted, and came upon the city, 
and ordered his soldiers not to spare young or old, and there 
were forty thousand destroyed in the space of three days, 
and forty thousand more were sold as slaves to the neigh- 
bouring nations.* 

13 Q. What profaneness was Antiochus guilty of in the 
temple J 

A. Being conducted by Menelaus into the temple, he 
took away the remaining holy vessels, the altar of incense, 
the golden table, and the candlestick ; he tore off the golden 
ornaments of the temple, and robbed it of the hidden trea- 
sures, he offered a large sow (that unclean and forbidden 
beast) on the altar of burnt-offering, and making soup of 
the flesh, he polluted the temple by sprinkling it with the 
soup, and then left Jerusalem overwhelmed in blood and 
mourning. 

14 Q. Did he pursue this mischief and madness any 
longer ? 

A. Two years after, (that is 168 B. C.) he sent Apollo- 
nius his collector of tribute, with twenty-two thousand men, 
who fell suddenly on the city on the Sabbath, while they 
were at worship, and slew the citizens and the priests ; he 
made the sacrifices cease, led the women and children cap- 
tive, pulled down the houses and the walls, built a castle or 
fortress on a high hill in the city of David over against 
the temple, to overlook and annoy them, and placed a garri- 
son therein, and laid up the spoils of the city there. 

15 Q. What further instances of rage did Antiochus 
show against the Jewish religion? 

A. He issued out an order, that all his dominions should 
be of one religion, chiefly designing to distress the Jews : 
he forbid their children to be circumcised, and forbid all 
burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the temple of the God of 
Israel : he called it the temple of Jupiter Olympius, set up 
his image on the altar, and sacrificed to it ; he commanded 
the people to profane the sabbaths, he set up altars and 

* See Prideaux, vol. ii. page 406. 



KINGS OF 8YRIA. 155 

groves, and chapels of idols throughout the cities, and re- 
quired them to offer the flesh of swine and other unclean 
beasts, and then to eat it; and he destroyed the books of the 
law wheresoever they were found. 

Note. This image of Jupiter, set up on the altar by Antiochus 
Epiphanes, is supposed to be the abomination that maketh desolate, 
foretold by Danielfchap. xi. 31. as the Roman ensign, with the eagle 
on it, which was the bird of Jupiter set up in the temple was the 
Abomination of Desolation, which Daniel foretels, Dan. ix. 27, and 
chap. xii. 11, and which our Saviour refers to, Matt xxiv. 15. Abomi- 
nahon is the common name for an idol in the Old Testament ; and 
when such are set up in the sanctuary, it may well be called desola- 
tion, for the priests are driven away, and the true worship of God 

'^Observe yet further, and this Antiochus Epiphanes is called by some 
the Jewish Antichrist; because several of the same things are : fore- 
told of him by the prophet Daniel, which are also predicted of the 
Roman Antichrist, in the Christian church by the apostle John. 

16 Q. Did any of the Israelites comply with his com- 

"a Though there were multitudes who would not defile 
themselves; and break the law of God, yet too many of them 
for fear, and some out of ambition to please the king, con- 
formed to his religion, and sacrificed and burnt incense to 
idols in the streets of the cities of Judea. 

17 Q How did the king punish those that refused I 

A. He put the men to death every month, he slew several 
women that had caused their children to be circumcised, 
hanged the infants about their neck, and killed those that 
circumcised them. This persecution may be seen more at 
large, 1 Mace. chap. i. and iii. and 2 Mace. vi. 

18 Q What did the Samaritans do on this occasion J 

A. When the Jews were in prosperity they challenged 
kindred with the Jews; but they disowned them when they 
were under persecution: and therefore on this occasion 
they made no apology to Antiochus the king, for having 
heretofore used the Jewish rites; but now having renounced 
them, they complied with the heathen religion, and desired 
their temple on mount Gerizim might be made the temple of 
the Grecian Jupiter, the defender of strangers, 2 Mace. vi. 

Sect. V. Of Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees, and 
the great reformer. 

1 Q. When the persecution was so violent in Judea, was 



156 REFORMATION BY MATTATHIAS, 

there any eminent public opposition made to it by any of the 
Jews] 

A. Mattathias, a priest of the course of Joarib, who dwelt 
in Modin, was complimented by the king's officers, and 
tempted to comply with heathen worship there, according to 
the king's commandment ; but he boldly renounced the su- 
perstitions, and declared his resolution to die in the religion 
of the Jews, 1 Mace. ii. 

2 Q. What instance did he give of his courage and zeal ] 
A. When one of the Jews came to sacrifice on the hea- 
then altar, which was at Midon, he could not forbear to 
show his indignation, as a zealot, but ran and slew the man 
upon the altar, and at the same time killed Apelles, the 
king's chief officer J;here, who came to enforce these wicked 
commands. 

3 Q. In what manner did he maintain this bold enter- 
prize ] 

A. He cried with a loud voice through the city, " who- 
soever is zealous of the law let him follow me." So he and 
his sons fled to the mountains, and a great number of the 
Jews fled with them, and hid themselves in the wilderness. 

4 Q. Did not the king's army pursue them ? 

A. Yes, and camped against them, and attacked a consi- 
derable number of them on the Sabbath-day 1 

5 Q. And did the Jews make no resistance % 

A. None at all, because it was the Sabbath ; but they 
said, " Let us all die in our innocency;" whereupon a thou- 
sand people were slain. 

6 Q. Did Mattathias and his friends approve of this con- 
duct 1 

A. It seems as if their zeal at first approved of it ; but 
upon better consideration they decreed, it was lawful and 
necessary for them to defend themselves if they were at- 
tacked again on the Sabbath-day. 

Note. This decree was ratified by the consent of all the priests 
and elders amongst them; and it was sent to all others through the land, 
and was made a rule in their following wars. 

7 Q. What did king Antiochus do, when he heard of this 
bold and public resistance made to his commands and his 
government 1 

A. He came in person to Judea, and executed very great 
cruelties on all the Jews that fell into his hands, who would 



FATHER OF THE MACCABEES. 157 

not forsake the law of Moses ; since the mere terrors of 
death did not affright them. 

8 Q. What very remarkable instances do we find in his- 
tory of this cruelty 1 

A. Seven brethren with their mother were terribly tor- 
mented, to constrain them to eat swine's flesh, which the 
law of Moses forbids. 

9 Q. How did they endure their torments 1 

A. With great courage, one after another, in a long suc- 
cession, they bore the various tortures that were inflicted on 
them, and declared they were ready to suffer rather than 
transgress the laws of their fathers] 

10 Q. What tortures were those which the king executed 
upon them 1 

A. A great variety of exquisite and bloody cruelties: 
their limbs were cut off, their tongues were cut out, they 
were fried in frying-pans, the skin of the head was torn off 
with the hair, and they died under the anguish and violence 
of these torments, while their mother at the same time look- 
ed on, and encouraged them all to suffer boldly in opposition 
to the entreaties, threatening, and commands of the king. 

11 Q. In what manner did she encourage her sons in 
their sufferings ? 

A. By the tenderest speeches of an affectionate mother 
to her sons, she beseeched them to fear God and not man ; 
and to endure in hope of a happy resurrection, when she 
should receive them all again in mercy. 

12 Q. Did she herself also suffer the torment? 

A. When she had seen all her sons die like martyrs be- 
S fore her, she finished that sad spectacle, and died also for 
her religion, 2 Mace. vii. 

13 Q. What did Mattathias do all this while in the 
mountains 7 

A. He still encouraged the Jews to join with him, and 
among others, there were many of the Assideans, who were 
zealous for the law, resorted to him. 

14 Q. Who were these Assideans, or Chasideans, as it 
•ught to be written 1 

A. A sect among the Jews who were called Chasidim, or 

e Pious ; who were not only zealous of the law, but of many 

ither constitutions and traditions, and forms of mortification, 

yond what the law required ; whereas those who content- 

O 



158 REFORMATION BY MATTATHIAS, &c. 

ed themselves with what was written in the law, were called 
Zadikim, or the righteous.* , , . - • 

15 Q. What exploits did Mattathias and his friends per- 
form] . .„ n -, 

A. They went round about the towns and villages, pulled 
down the Heathen altars, and circumcised the children; they 
slew and put to flight many of their enemies, recovered seve- 
ral copies of the Jewish law, and restored the true worship. 

16 Q. When Mattathias died, who succeeded him? 

A Just before his death he made a noble speech to his 
five sons, to encourage them in the defence of their reli- 
gion and their country; he recommended his son Simon, as 
a man of counsel, but he made his son Judas, surnamea 
Maccabeus, their captain. 

17 Q. How came he to be called Maccabeus/ 

A The motto of his standard was the first letters of that 
Hebrew sentence, Exod. xv. 11. Mi Camoka Baelim Je- 
hovah; that is, Who is like to thee, among the Gods, U 
Lord ? Which letters were formed into the artificial word 
Maccabi, and all that fought under his standard were called 
Maccabees. 

Note This has been a common practice among the Jews, to frame 
words in this manner. So Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon, that is the » m 
of Maimon, is called Rambam; Rabbi Solomon Jarchi is called Rum. 
Nor isX use of the first letters of words for such kind of purposes, 
unknown among Heathens or Christians. The letters S. P. Q- K. 
"written oiAhe Roman standard, for Senatus Pop^ Que Ro- 
mans ; that is, " The Roman senate and people." Jesus Christ our 
Savour hath been called a Fish, in Greek IX0TS, by the fathers, be- 
causTthese are the first letters of those Greek words, Jesus Chnst, 
God's Son, the Saviour. 

Note. Antiochus ordered all the copies of the law to be delivered 
ud under pain of death, thinking by destroying these to blot out the 
S religion; but those who fled preserved their sacred books 
aS by thofewho remained behind the prophets were thenceforth 
read in the synagogues. 

* According to Prideaux, the sects of the Samaritans, Sadducees,and 
the Karaits were derived from the Zadikim ; and the Pharisees and 
the Egenes from the Chasidim. Vol. ii. page 421 . 



OF JUDAS MACCABEUS, &c. 159 

Sect. VI. — Of the Jewish Government under the Maccabees 

or Asmoneans. And first, of the three brothers, Judas, 

Jonathan, and Simon. 

1 Q,. What valiant actions did Judas and his brethren 
do in defence of the law, and against their prosecutors ? 

A. He won many battles against king Antiochus and his 
generals, and encouraged himself and his soldiers in the 
name of God, whensoever they began to faint. 

2Q. Where are those acts of Judas and his brethren re- 
corded ? 

A. The earliest account of them is found in the first and 
second book of Maccabees. 

Here note. That the first book of Maccabees, supposed to have 
been written by John Hyrcanus, son of Simon, is a very accurate and 
excellent history, and comes nearest to the style and manner of the 
sacred writings : and is supposed to be written a little after these 
persecutions and wars were ended. But the second book consists of 
several pieces of much less value. It begins with two epistles from 
the Jews of Jerusalem; but both are supposed to be fabulous stories, 

1 and in some parts impossible to be true. The following parts of it pre- 
tend to be an abridgment of the history of one Jason; it relates some 
of the persecutions of Antiochus, and the acts of Judas, amplified 

I with particular circumstances; but it is not of equal esteem with the 
first book, for it seems to effect miracles and prodigious events beyond 

1 reasonable credibility. 

3 Q. How did king Antiochus resent these attempts of 
! Judas, and his success against him? 

A. When he went into Persia to gather the tribute of the 
i countries there, he left Lysias with half his army, and with 
express orders to destroy and root the Jews out of their land. 

4 Q. Did Lysias pursue the king's orders 1 

A. Yes, with great diligence he sought to execute these 
i^cruel orders. His army, of forty thousand foot and seven 
jithousand horse, encamped at Emmaus, near Jerusalem; 
pand another army of a thousand merchants, flocked thither 
| upon presumption of their victory, with great quantities of 
|^ilver and gold, to buy the captives for slaves. 
\[ 5 Q. How did their wicked counsel, to destroy Israel, 
succeed 1 

A. When they were thus secure, and confident of suc- 
cess, Judas and his brethren assembled at Mispah, fasted, 
sut on sackcloth, laid open the book of the law before God, 
vhere the heathens had painted their images, cried migh- 



160 OF JUDAS MACCABEUS, 

tily unto God for help, sounded the trampets, Drought the 
army in order, and prepaid for battle and for death, unless 
God pleased to make them conquerors. 
6 Q. What was the event of so much pious zeal and cou- 

^ A e1 Judas and his army put to flight and destroyed seve- 
ral large parties that Lysias had sent against, him, they 
drove the enemy out of Jerusalem, and almost out of fe 
land of Judea, and took a very large booty both from the 

a TQwt\ was C the n first work that Judas and his people 
applied themselves to upon this great success? 

A Thev went up into mount Sion, and when they saw 
the sancJary desolate, the altar profaned i the gate, ; burnt 
nn shrubs and grass growing in the courts of the temple, 
thel Tent their dothef, fell down upon their faces, and made 
great lamentations, with humble cries to heaven 

8 Q Had they power and time to repair the temple, and 

"^Y^^Sf^^^ to the work with all di- 
ligence they^ought out the priests of blameless conyersa- 
ST£ deanVfanctuary; they pulled do wr .the altar jrf 
burnt-offerincrs, because the heathens had defiled it, they 
S a new alar, as the law directs, with whole stones; 
thev made new holy vessels, the altar of incense, the table, 
InTthTcandlesticks, all of gold, which they had taken from 
their enemies; and'they set all the parts of divine worship 
in order again, and offered sacrifice according to the law. 
9 Q How did they kindle the sacred fire on the altar 1 
A Having lost the fire which came down from heaven 
and was keft burning on the altar at Jerusal en i before *e 
Babylonish captivity, they struck fire with flints, and so 
kindled the sacrifices and the lamps, 2 Mace. x. 6. 

Note We do not read, that the second temple ever had this sacred 
fire^ The story of Jeremiah's hiding it, in 2 Mace. chap. .. .s counted 
a mere fable. . 

10 Q. Was there any thing remarkable in the time, or 
day of this restoration of temple worship-! 

A That very day three years wherein the heathen had 
profaned the altar by the offering of unclean beasts on it 
it was dedicated with songs and harps and cymbals and 
tent-offerings of God's appointment, and that for e.ght days 



JONATHAN AND SIMON. 161 

together. This was two years after Judas had the chief 
command, and three years and a half after the city and tem- 
ple had been laid desolate by Apollonius. 

11 Q. What lasting memorial was appointed for this 
restoration of the worship of God in the temple ? 

A. Judas and his brethren, and the whole congregation, 
ordained that these days of the dedication of the altar should 
be kept yearly with mirth and gladness. 
ji 12 Q. Did the worship of God continue long here after 
this solemnity? 

A. We are told by historians, that it continued from this 
time without any interruption from the heathens, till the 
destruction of the temple by the Romans; though Jerusalem 
and the temple were often in the hands of the heathens. 

Note. Some say this was that very feast of dedication which our 
Saviour honoured with his presence at Jerusalem. Though others 
think it was the dedication of Solomon's temple. Yet the season be- 
ing winter, it rather agrees to the time of Maccabeus 's dedication. 

13 Q. Were not the Jews at all annoyed or disturbed by 
the enemy in this pious work 1 

A. There was still that fortress built by Apollonius re- 
maining in the hands of < the heathens and apostate Jews ; it 
stood on mount Acre, a rising ground over-against the moun- 
tain of the temple, and rather higher than that mountain, 
whence the Jews received some annoyance in going to the 
temple. 

14 Q. What further care did Judas and his people take 
for their own security 1 

A. When he could not drive out the enemy at once, they 
built up mount Sion with high walls and strong towers, and 
put a garrison there to keep it, and as far as possible to se- 
cure the priests and people when they went to worship, and to 
prevent the Gentiles from treading down the sanctuary again. 

15 Q. Did Judas and his people continue to enjoy peace? 
A. Though they maintained the temple worship, yet they 

were still engaged in war. For all the nations round about 
them were much displeased that the sanctuary was restored, 
and they attacked the Jews on every side : but God gave 
Judas and his brethren the victory in many battles, and they 
returned to Jerusalem, and gave thanks to God in Sion for 
his remarkable protection of them, that they had not lost one 
man, 1 Mace. v. 54. 

o2 



this 
ritio- 



162 OF JUDAS MACCABEUS, 

16 Q. Did Judas make any more expeditions against 1 
enemies 1 

A. He led forth his forces against Gorgias, one of Antio- 
chus's generals, and against the Idumeans, who had been 
very vexatious to the Jews ; and though several of the Jews 
were slain, yet Judas renewed the courage of his army by 
singing psalms with a loud voice, and rushing upon their 
enemies, put them to flight. 

17 Q. What remarkable crime was found among the Jews 
that were slain'? 

A. When they came to bury their dead, they found things 
consecrated to idols under the garment of every Jew that 
was slain, whereupon the people praised the Lord, the right- 
eous Judge of men : but, without any encouragement from 
scripture, they offered sacrifices and prayers for the pardon 
of the dead, Mace. xii. 34, &c. 

Note. It is from this place in the second book of Maccabees, that 
the papists borrow their prayers for the dead. 

18 Q. Where was Antiochus the king all this while? 

A. He was gone to Persia, not only to receive his tribute, 
as Mac. iii. 31, but to plunder the temple of Diana, (who 
among the Persians is called Zoretes,) which temple stood 
at Elymas, and had incredible riches of gold and silver, and 
golden armour which were laid up there. 

19 Q. Did he succeed in this enterprise? 

A. The people of the country, having notice of his design, 
joined together in defence of that idol's temple, and beat 
him off with shame. 

20 Q. How did he receive the news of the defeat of his 
generals and armies in Judea. 

A. With the utmost rage and indignation, as well as 
grief of mind ; but he resolved to make haste thither, and 
threatened to make the city of Jerusalem as one grave for 
the Jews, where he would bury the whole nation. 

21 Q. What followed upon this insolent speech of Antio- 
chus the king ? 

A. He was immediately smitten with an incurable plague 
in the midst of his journey, his bowels were seized with 
grievous torment, his chariot was overthrown, and he was 
sorely bruised, and forced to be confined to his bed in a lit- 
tle town on the road, where he lay languishing under foul 
ulcers of body, and sharp terrors of mind, till he died. 



JONATHAN AND SIMON. 163 

Note 1. At the celebration of certain games near Antioch, Antio- 
chus, before the numerous assembly, exhibited such mean and inde- 
cent actions, as excited their contempt, scorn, and ridicule ; which 
verified the prophecy of Daniel, xi. 21. 

Note 2. It hath been observed by historians, that death by foul ul- 
cers hath befallen many persecutors, both in former and latter times. 

Note 3. Antiochus was very liberal in rewarding his followers, and 
hence he was styled, The Munificent, Dan. xi. 24. 

22 Q. Had he any regret upon this conscience, particu- 
larly for his cruelty and wickedness practised upon the 
Jews] 

A. Both Jews and Heathens give us an account of the 
dreadful anguish of his mind which he then suffered ; and 
though the Heathen historian attributes it to the intended 
sacrilege and robbery designed upon the temple of Diana, 
yet the Jewish historians acquaint us, that Antiochus him- 
self imputed his calamities to the horrid impieties and 

| cruelties he had been guilty of against the God of Israel 
and his people, and bitterly repented of them with inward 

I horror on his death-bed. 

Note. This Antiochus Epiphanes, having been a great oppressor 
'. of the Jewish church, and the type of Antichrist, there is a larger 
I account of him in Daniel's prophecy, than of any other prince. The 
' xith chap. ver. 1 1 — 45, relates wholly to him, as well as some passa- 
( ges in the viiith and xiith chapters, the exemplification and accom- 
| plishment of which may be read in Dr. Prideaux's Connection, part 
(j II. book iii. And the accomplishment is so exact, that Porphyry, a 
learned Heathen in the third century, pretends that it is mere his- 
tory, and that it was written after the event. 

23 Q. What became of the garrison of the Syrians in the 
tower of Acre, which so much molested the Jews in Jeru- 
salem? 

A. Judas Maccabeus besieged them, whereupon Antio- 
chus Eupator, the son and successor of Epiphanes, brought 
a vast army against Judas, consisting of an hundred thou- 
sand foot, twenty thousand horse, thirty-two elephants, and 
three hundred armed chariots of war. 

24 Q. What could the Jews do against so great an 
army? 

A. Judas having given this watch-word, Victory is of 
the Lord, fell upon them in the night, and having slain four 
thousand immediately, and six hundred the next morning, 
made a safe retreat to Jerusalem. 



164 OF JUDAS MACCABEUS, 

25 Q. What remarkable instance of courage was given 
by Eleazar, the brother of Judas, in this battle ! 

A. When he saw one elephant higher and more adorned 
than the rest, he supposed the king himself was on it; 
therefore he ran furiously through the troops, and made his 
way to the beast, he then thrust up his spear under his belly, 
and the beast, with the tower that was upon him, falling 
down, crushed him to death. 

26 Q. Had Antiochus Eupater's army any success after- 
ward against the Jews 1 

A. They marched to Jerusalem under the command of 
Lysias, and besieged the sanctuary, and when the Jews 
were near surrendering for want of provisions, they were 
strangely relieved by the providence of God. 

27 Q. In what manner did this relief come ? 

A. Lysias hearing that the city of Antioch was seized 
by one Philip a favourite of the late king, who had taken 
upon him the government of Syria, persuaded the present 
king to grant peace to the Jews, which he did : yet, con- 
trary to his own promise, he pulJed down the fortifications 
of the temple, when he came and saw how strong they 
were. 

28 Q. What became of Menelaus the wicked high 
priest 1 

A. He attended the king's army in this expedition against 
Jerusalem, in hopes to recover his office, and to be made 
governor there : but Lysias, finding this war exceedingly 
troublesome, accused Menelaus to the king as the author 
of all this mischief: whereupon he was condemned to a 
miserable death, being cast headlong into a tower of ashes 
fifty cubits high. 

29 Q. Who was his successor in the priesthood 1 

A. Onias, the son of Onias the third, and nephew to 
Menelaus, was the more rightful successor, but the king 
rejected him; and being disappointed of it, he fled into 
Egypt: while Alcimus, or Jacimus, one of the family of 
Aaron, (though not in the right line of Josedech, to whom 
the priesthood belonged) was made high priest by Antiochus 
Eupater the king. 

Note. It was Joshua the son of Josedech, or Jozadek, who was the 
rightful high priest at the return from Babylon. See Ezra iii. 2, and 
Hag. i. 1. 



JONATHAN AND SIMON. 166 

30 Q. Was Alcimus admitted to the exercise of the of- 
fice in Jerusalem'? 

A. He was refused by the Jews, because he had complied 
with the heathen superstition in the time of the persecu- 
tion ; but he besought the aid of Demetrius the new king 
against Judas and the people, who refused to receive him. 

31 Q. How came this Demetrius to be king 1 

A. He was the son of Seleucus Philopater, who was the 
eldest brother of Antiochus Epiphanes; and though he 
could not persuade the Romans to assist him in seizing 
the kingdom of Syria, since Antiochus Epiphanes was 
dead, yet escaping from Rome, he landed in Syria, and 
persuaded the people that the Romans had sent him : where- 
upon Antiochus Eupater and Lysias were seized by their 
own soldiers, and put to death, by order of Demetrius. 

32 Q. Did Demetrius establish Alcimus in the priesthood, 
in opposition to Judas and his people ? 

A. He endeavoured to do it, by sending one Bacchides 
against them, but without success; afterwards making Ni- 
canor, who was master of his elephants, governor of Judea, 
he sent him to slay Judas, and to subdue the Jews. 

33 Q. What success had Nicanor in this attempt ? 

A. Though at first he was unwilling to make war on 
Judas, yet being urged by the king, he pursued it with fury, 
and having spoken many blasphemous words against the 
temple, and the God of Israel, and threatening to demolish 
it, and to build a temple to Bacchus in the room of it, he 
himself was slain, and his army was shamefully routed by 
Judas. 

34 Q. What encouragement had Judas to hope for vic- 
tory in this battle 1 

A. Not only from the blasphemies of Nicanor, but he was 
animated also by a divine vision ; and thus he encountered 
his enemies with cheerfulness, and with earnest prayer to 
God, 2 Mace. xiv. and xv. 

35 Q. What rejoicing did Judas and the Jews make on 
this occasion ! 

A. He cut off Nicanor's head and his right hand, which 
he had stretched out against the temple, and hanged them 
upon one of the towers of Jerusalem, and appointed a yearly 
day of thanksgiving in memory of this victory, which is 
called Nicanor's day. 



166 OF JUDAS MACCABEUS, 

36 Q. What was the next act of Judas for the good of his 
country? \ 

A. Hearing* of the growing greatness of the Romans, he 
sent to make a league for mutual defence with them ; to 
which the Romans consented and established it, acknow- 
ledging the Jews as their friends and allies, and ordered 
Demetrius to vex them no more. 

37 Q. Did Demetrius obey these orders'? 

A. Before these orders came to his hand, he had sent 
Bacchides the second time to revenge Nicanor's death, and 
to establish Alcimus in the priesthood. 

38 Q. What success had this second expedition of Bac- 
chides against the Jews? 

A. A very unhappy one indeed for the Jews : for he so 
much dverpo wered Judas with the number of his forces, who 
had then but three thousand men with him, that even the 
greatest part of these three thousand fled from him for fear : 
and Judas being ashamed to fly for his life, he was slain, 
fighting valiantly with only about eight hundred who re- 
mained faithful to him. 

39 Q. What mischiefs ensued on the death of Judas ? 

A. The Jews were greatly disheartened. Bacchides pre- 
vailed every where, took Jerusalem, subdued the greatest 
part of the country, and put to death the friends of Judas, 
where he could find them ; many apostate Jews sided with 
him. Alcimus exercised the high priesthood in a very 
wicked manner, and imitated the heathen superstition in 
the worship of God. He gave orders to pull down the wall 
of the inner court of the sanctuary, and is supposed also to 
break down the wall which divided the more holy part of 
the mountain of the temple from the less holy, and gave the 
Gentiles equal liberty with the Jews to enter there. 

Note. It is said in 1 Mace. ix. 54, that he actually pulled down 
the work of the prophets, whatever that was. But it is thought he 
only gave orders for pulling down the wall of the inner court, which 
may be supposed to be the court of the priests. 

2. It is hard to determine how far the wall which separated the 
Gentiles from that outer court of the temple which was made for the 
Jews, was of God's appointment, or how early it was built. 

We do not read of it in Scripture, neither in the building of the 
temple of Solomon, where there was only the court of the Priests, and 
the great court ; nor in the rebuilding it by Zerubbabel, does Scrip- 
ture tell us of such a separation. Indeed, in Jehoshaphat's time, we 
read of a new court, 2 Chron. xx. 5. What it was no man knows 



JONATHAN AND SIMON. 167 

certainly ; perhaps it was only one court renewed, for in Manasseh's 
days, which was about 200 years after, there were but two courts, 
2 Chron. xxxiii. 5. Dr. Prideaux indeed supposes, that the latter pro- 
phets, Haggai and Zechariah, ordered a low wall, or rather inclosure, 
to be built, called Chel, in the second temple, within which no un- 
circumcised person should enter. And one reason of that opinion is, 
because 1 Mace. ix. 54, it is said, that Alcimus pulled down also the 
work of the prophets. That there was such a separating wall in the 
days of the Maccabees, or before, is generally supposed ; that this 
court of the Gentiles was also in Herod's temple, is agreed ; and there 
seems to be a reference to it in Ephes. ii. 14, having broken down the 
middle wall of partition. See Lowth on Ezek. xl. 17. But whether 
any of the arguments are effectual to prove it was of divine appoint- 
ment, the learned reader must judge. See Prideaux's Connection of 
the Old and New Testament, Part II. Book iv. page 261 in 8vo. and 
Lightfootof the temple, chap. xvii. 

If it be as some have maintained, that the Jews in rebuilding that 
temple under Zerubbabel, took pattern, in a great measure, from the 
prophetical temple in Ezekiel's vision, then there seems to have been 
a court large enough for the court of the Gentiles : for chap. xl. 5, and 
xlii. 20. There was a wall on the outside of the house roundabout, 
of five hundred reeds square, to make a separation between the sanc- 
tuary and the profane place. See Lowth on these texts. Perhaps in 
these times this was called the mount of the temple. 

40 Q. What became of Alcimus when he practised these 
things with insolence ? 

A. He was smitten by the hand of God with a palsy, his 
speech was taken away, so that he could give no further 
wicked commands, nor so much as set in order his own 
house, and he died in great torment, 1 Mace, ix, 54, 55. 

41 Q. Did the surviving brethren of Judas Maccabeus 
make no efforts against these their enemies 3 

A. Yes, his brother Jonathan, being chosen by the peo- 
ple, took on him the government ; and though their brother 
John was slain by the Jambrites, yet Simon remained; arid 
these two made such a continual resistance, that in some 
years' time, Alcimus being dead, Bacchides grew weary of 
the war, and was inclined at last to make a firm peace ; and 
then he restored the Jews which had been his prisoners, 
and departed from Judea, without ever returning. 

Note. Demetrius had by this time received the letters of the Ro- 
man senate, and was no doubt induced to make peace with the Jews 
through fear of the Romans, whose favour he succeeded in regaining. 

42 Q. What use did Jonathan make of this peace ? 

A. He governed Israel according to the law ; he restored 
the Jewish religion, reformed every thing as far as he could, 



168 OF JUDAS MACCABEUS, 

both in church and state, and rebuilt the walls and forti- 
fications of Sion. 

43 Q. Who performed the office of high priest all this 
time? 

A. There was a vacancy of the office for seven years, af- 
ter the death of Alcimus, till Alexander, an impostor, who 
pretended to be the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, seized the 
kingdom of Syria, and made high proposals to engage Jo- 
nathan on his side against Demetrius, who had been their 
enemy. Among these proposals one was this, that he should 
be constituted and maintained the governor and the high 
priest of the Jews, and be called the king' s friend, 1 Mace, 
x. 18—20. 

Note. I think Josephus supposes Judas to have been made high 
priest before his death ; but Dr. Prideaux does not seem to follow him 
in this matter; nor doth the book of Maccabees give any account of 
it. Though upon Judas's restoring the Jewish worship in the temple, 
there must be some person to officiate as high priest upon some oc- 
casions. And Onias being fled into Egypt, whether Judas himself 
did it occasionally, or deputed one of the other priests to do it, is not 
certain. Perhaps Judas might do the duty, as being of the chief fa- 
mily of the priesthood, though he did not assume the title. 

44 Q. Did Jonathan accept of these proposals 1 

A. There being no other high priest in view, he accepted 
it, by the consent of all the people ; and at the feast of ta- 
bernacles he put on the holy robe. Being thus dignified, 
he joined with Alexander, who still grew stronger, and slew 
his rival Demetrius in battle. 

Note. That from this time forward the high priesthood continued 
in the family of the Asmoneans, or Maccabees, till the time of Herod, 
who changed it from an office of inheritance, to an arbitrary appoint- 
ment. It may be proper to observe here, that the family whence the 
Maccabees came, are called Asmoneans ; for Mattathias their father 
was the son of John, the son of Simon, the son of Asmoneus. 

45 Q. But was Jonathan the eldest family of Aaron, to 
whom the priesthood belonged 1 

A. Whether the Maccabees or Asmoneans were of the 
race of Josedeck, the high priest, is uncertain, Ezra iii. 2, 
but it is certain they were of the course of Jparib, which 
was of the first class of the sons of Aaron, 1 Mace. ii. 1. 
1 Chron. xxiv. 7. And therefore, on the failure of the for- 
mer family of priests, and none appearing there with a bet- 



JONATHAN AND SIMON. 169 

ter title, he had the best right to succeed ; besides that, he 
was chosen to it in a vacancy by all the people. 

46 Q. Where was Onias all this while ? 

A. Having fled into Egypt, he gained such an interest in 
Ptolemy Philometer the king, as to build a Jewish temple 
in Egypt, exactly like that at Jerusalem, adorned with the 
same furniture of vessels and altars for incense and sacri- 
fices ; and to have himself and his family established the 
high priests of it, where they performed the same religious 
service as was done at Jerusalem. 

47 Q. In what part of Egypt did he build this temple ? 
A. In the place where Heliopolis, or the city of the sun 

stood; and there he built a city also, and called it Onias, 
after his own name. 

48 Q. But how did he persuade the Jews to perform such 
worship at this temple ? 

A. By citing the words of Isaiah, chap. xix. ver. 18, 19. 
In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the 
language of Canaan : In that day there shall be an altar to 
the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, c^c. Which is 
truly to be interpreted concerning the future state of the 
gospel in that country in the days of the Messiah ; but Onias 
applied it to his own temple and altar. 

49 Q. How long did this temple continue ] 

A. Till after the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, 
which was above two hundred years; and then the city 
Onias, and the temple, were both destroyed by the command 
of Vespasian the emperor of Rome. 

50 Q. Did Jonathan go on to secure the Jews of Judea in 
their possessions and their religion ? 

A. By making leagues with the princes and states that 
favoured him, and by assisting sometimes one and sometimes 
another, as the interests and powers of princes were often 
changing, he defended and governed his own nation. 

51 Q. What became of him at last ? 

A. By the treachery of one Tryphon who sought the 
kingdom of Syria, he was seized, and shut up close prisoner 
in Ptolemais, 1 Mace. xi. and xii. And afterwards was slain 
with his two sons, chap. xiii. 

52 Q. Who succeeded Jonathan in the high priesthood 
and government T 

A. Simon his brother, by the request of all the people. 
P 



170 OF JUDAS MACCABEUS. 

53 Q. What were some of the first enterprizes of Simon? 
A. After an honourable burial of his brother at Modin, the 

city of his fathers, and the noble and lofty monument, and 
seven pyramids which he set up for his parents, his*four 
brethren, and himself, he fortified the cities of Judea, made 
a league with young Demetrius, the son of Demetrius, took 
the city of Gaza, cleansed the houses from idols, and built 
himself a house there. 

54 Q. Did the heathen garrison in the tower of Acre, 
near the temple, continue to annoy the Jews in their wor- 
ship] 

A. Notwithstanding all the attempts of Judas and Jona- 
than, these enemies remained till the days of Simon, who 
shut them up so closely, that, after great numbers perished 
with famine, the rest yielded up the tower to Simon : im- 
mediately he cleansed it from its pollutions, and entered into 
it with harps and songs, and great triumph. 

55 Q. What precautions did Simon take against the like 
annoyance for time to come ? 

A. By consent and assistance of the people, he pulled 
down the tower, and reduced the mountain itself so low, 
that there might be no possibility of any future annoyance 
to the worship of the temple from that place. 

56 Q. What further success had Simon in his government ? 
A. He established Jerusalem and Judea in great peace 

and plenty; he sought out the law, and made it to be obeyed ; 
he beautified the sanctuary, multiplied the vessels of the 
temple, and maintained their religion in the divine institu- 
tions of it 1 

57 Q. What peculiar honour was done him by the Jews ? 
A. In a general assembly of the priests and elders, and 

the people of the Jews, met together at Jerusalem, he was 
constituted their prince as well as their high priest ; and 
these dignities and offices were settled upon his posterity for 
ever. This was engraven on tables of brass, together with 
the good deeds of himself and his family which had merited 
such an honour; and these tables were hung up in the 
sanctuary. 

58 Q. What regard was paid to him among the heathen 
nations 1 

A. Several princes and people, the Lacedemonians, the 
Romans, and Antiochus, surnamed Sidetes, the son of De- 



THE JEWISH AFFAIRS, &c. 171 

metrius, king of Syria, all sought his friendship, made 
leagues and covenants with him, and conferred on him spe- 
cial honours, 1 Mace. xiv. and xv. 

59 Q. Did Antiochus keep his covenant with Simon ? 
A. By no means : for when he had vanquished Tryphon, 

his rival, he broke his league with Simon, and invaded some 
part of Judea ; but his general Cendebeus, was routed by 
Simon and his two eldest sons, Judas, and John whose sur- 
name was Hyrcanus. 

60 Q. What was the fate of Simon at last? 

A. When Simon was visiting the cities, and giving or- 
ders for their welfare, one Ptolemeus, who was his son-in- 
law, invited him and his sons to a banquet at Jericho, and 
slew Simon, with two of his sons, in order to get the govern- 
ment of the country into his own hands : and sent privately 
to kill John also. 

61 Q. Did Ptolemeus succeed in this his treachery and 
murderous enterprize 1 

A. John having got timely notice of it, slew the assassins, 
and was invested with the high priesthood and the govern- 
ment, after his father. 

Note. Here ends that excellent history, the first book of the Mac- 
cabees. The following part of this account of the Jews is borrowed 
chiefly from Josephus, who usually calls John by the surname of 
Hyrcanus. 

Note. Ptolemeus, unable to sustain himself against John, fled to 
Zeno, and no more mention being made of him, he probably was put 
out of the way by Antiochus, when he had no more need of him as a 
tool. , ' 

Sect. VH. Of the Jewish affairs under the conduct of the 
posterity and successors of Simon the Maccabee ; and of 
the several sects among the Jews, namely, Pharisees, Sad- 
ducees, Essenes, Herodians, and Karaites. 

, 1 Q. Did John Hyrcanus enjoy his office in peace 1 

A. Antiochus Sidetes, being informed of the death of Si- 
mon, and being invited by Ptolemeus, invaded Judea again, 
besieged Jerusalem, and reduced Hyrcanus and the Jews to 
the last extremity by famine : but when they sued for 
peace, he granted it, upon condition of paying certain tri- 
butes to the king, and demolishing the fortifications of Je- 
rusalem. 



172 THE SUCCESSORS OF 

Note. About this time Jesus the son of Sirach, a Jew of Jerusa- 
lem, coming into Egypt, translated the book of Ecclesiasticus, written 
by Jesuslus grandfather, out of Hebrew into Greek, for the use of the 
Hellenistic Jews there. The ancients called it Panareton, or " the 
treasury of all virtue." 

2 Q. How did the affairs of the Jews succeed under 
Hyrcanus] 

A. A few years afterward he took advantage of the vast 
.confusions that ensued among the nations, upon the death 
of Antiochus, to enlarge his borders, by seizing some neigh- 
bouring towns on several sides of Judea, and to renounce all 
his dependence upon the kings of Syria. 

3 Q. Was he supported therein by any foreign powers ! 
A. He renewed the league of friendship which his father 

Simon had made with the Romans, who were then growing 
to their grandeur ; and they ordered that he should be freed 
from the late imposed tribute, and that the Syrians should 
make reparation for the damages they had done him. 

4 Q. In what manner did Hyrcanus deal with the Edo- 
mites, or Idumeans, who were on the south of Judea 1 

A. He constrained them to embrace the Jewish religion, 
or to leave their country ; whereupon they chose to forsake 
their idolatry, and become proselytes to Judaism, and were 
mingled and incorporated with the Jews ; and, by this means, 
in less than two hundred years, their very name was lost. 

Note. In defence of this practice of Hyrcanus among the Idumeans, 
which seems to be so contrary to the laws of nature and scripture, 
it may be said, that at this time those Edomites had encroached on 
the land of Judea, and inhabited all the south part of it: so that 
Hyrcanus, in banishing those who would not become Jews, did but 
dispossess them of that country, which was given to the Jews by God 
himself. Yet, it must be confessed, by this practice he seems to have 
set an unhappy pattern to his successors, to impose the religion of the 
Jews on conquered countries by force. 

5 Q. How did he treat the Samaritans on the north, 
when his power was thus increased ? 

A. He marched with his army, and took Shechem, which 
was then the chief seat of the Samaritan sect ; and he de- 
stroyed their temple on mount Gerizim, which Sanballat had 
built ; though they continued still to keep an altar there, 
and to offer sacrifices. 

6 Q. How came Shechem to be their chief seat instead 
of Samaria? 



SIMON THE MACCABEE, 173 

A. They were expelled from Samaria by Alexander, for 
killing one of his deputy governors in a tumult ; and they, 
retiring to Shechem, made that their chief seat; while 
Alexander re-peopled Samaria with Heathens of the Syrian 
and Macedonian race. 

7 Q. Did Hyrcanus extend his power further on that side 
of the country? 

A. He besieged Samaria, and took it, and utterly demo- 
lished it, he not only ruled in Judea, but in Galilee also, and 
the neighbouring towns. He became one of the most con- 
siderable princes of his age, and preferred the Jewish church 
and state in safety from their enemies, throughout a long 
government. 

8 Q. What other remarkable actions are ascribed to Hyr- 
canus ! 

A. He was esteemed a prophet for one or two notable 
predictions, or knowledge of things done at a distance. He 
built the castle Baris, on a steep rock, fifty cubits high, 
without the outer square of the temple, but in the same 
mountain : this was the palace of all the Asmonean princes 
in Jerusalem, and here the sacred robes of the high priest 
were always laid up when they were not in use. - 

9 Q. What use was afterwards made of this castle ? 

A. Herod new built it, and made it a very strong fortress, 
to command both the city and the temple ; and called it 
Antonia, in honour of his great friend Mark Antony of 
Rome : he raised it so high that he might see what was 
done in the temple, and send his soldiers in case of any tu- 
mult. Here the Romans kept a strong garrison, and the go- 
vernor of it was called captain of the temple, Acts xxi. 31. 

Note. It was from this place, the centinel spying the Jews ready 
to kill Paul, ga#e notice to the governor or chief captain, who went 
down immediately with some soldiers into the court of the Gentiles, 
whither they had dragged St. Paul to kill him, and rescued him and 
brought him up the stairs into this castle; and it was upon these 
stairs that Paul obtained leave to speak to the people, Acts xxi. 
26, &c. 

10 Q. What troubles did Hyrcanus meet with toward 
the end of his life 7 

A. His title to the priesthood was unjustly called in 

question by a bold man among the Pharisees ; and being 

craftily imposed upon to think it the opinion of all that party, 

he hastily renounced that sect, for which he had before the 

p2 



174 PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES. 

greatest value ; he abolished their constitutions, and falling 1 
in with a sect of the Sadducees, lost his esteem and love 
among the common people. 

11 Q. Since you mention the sect of the Pharisees here, 
pray let us know what were the chief sects among the 
Jews ] 

A. About this time, the most considerable sects were the 
Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes ; though in the 
next century arose also the Herodians ; and some hundreds 
of years after was a sect called the Karaites. 

12 Q. What peculiar opinions were held by the Pharisees 1 
A. The most distinguishing character of this sect, was 

their zeal for the traditions of the elders ; for while they 
acknowledged the writings of Moses and the prophets to be 
divine, they pretended that these traditions also were de- 
livered to Moses on mount Sinai; and conveyed down, 
without writing, through the several generations of the 
Jews, from father to son. And by reason of their pretences 
to a more strict and rigorous observance of the law accord- 
ing to their traditions, which they superadded to it, they 
looked on themselves as more holy than other men, and they 
were called Pharisees, that is, persons separated from 
others. 

Note. These were the persons who had so much corrupted the law 
in our Saviour's time, and made it void by their traditions : yet their 
doctrines generally prevailed among the scribes and the lawyers 
who were writers and explainers of the law ; and the bulk of the 
common people had them in high esteem and veneration, so that 
they were the most numerous of any sect. 

13 Q. Is the sect of the Pharisees still in being ? 

A. The present religion of the Jews, in their several dis- 
persions (except among the few Karaites) is wholly formed 
and practised according to the traditions of the Pharisees, 
rather than according to the law and prophets: so that 
they have corrupted the old Jewish religion, in the same 
manner as the papists have the christian. 

14 Q. What were the opinions of the Sadducees? 

A. The Sadducees at first are supposed by Dr. Prideaux, 
to be no more than the Zadikim, who only stuck to the 
written word of God, renouncing all other traditions; and 
that probably they went no further than this in the days of 
Hyrcanus; though the Talmudical writers derive their 
name, and their dangerous doctrines more early, from one 



KARAITES. 175 

Zadock, as is before related. But it is certain, that after- 
ward, the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead, 
and the very being of angels, or spirits, or souls of men de- 
parted, and any existence in a future state. They supposed 
God to be the only spirit, and that he rewarded and punished 
mankind in this world only, and there was nothing to be 
hoped or feared after death ; which principles render this 
sect an impious party of men. 

15 Q. What did they profess as the rule of their religion ? 
A. They not only rejected all unwritten traditions, but all 

the written word of God, except the five books of Moses; 
for the doctrine of a future state is not so evidently taught 
therein : and therefore Christ argues not with them out of 
the Psalms and Prophets, but only out of the law of Moses, 
when he proves a future state or resurrection, from God's 
being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Luke xx. 37. 

16 Q. How long did this sect of the Sadducees continue ] 
A. Though all the common people had the chief venera- 
tion for the Pharisees, yet most of the richest and the great- 
est among them fell into the opinions of the Sadducees for 
several generations, but they were all cut off in the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem ; nor do we find any mention of them as a 
sect for many ages after, till their name was revived and ap- 
plied to the Karaites, by way of reproach. 

17 Q. Who were these Karaites 1 

A. A much better sect among the Jews, who in the sixth 
century after Christ, began to be so much offended with the 
incredible stories and fooleries of the talmud, which was 
then published, and with the strange mystical senses which 
some of the Jews put on the scriptures, that they confined 
themselves only to the written word of the scripture, which 
in the Babylonish language is called Kara; and for the 
most part they content themselves with the literal sense of 
it. They are sometimes, but very unjustly, called Saddu- 
cees, by the Rabinical or Talmudical Jews. 

Note. The Karaites had their origin from Anan, a Jew of Ba- 
bylonia, of the stock of David and Saul, his sons. These were learned 
men, and declared openly against all traditions, and adhered only 
to the written word. 

18 Q. Where are these Karaites to be found 1 

A. Very few of them dwell in these western parts of 
the world. They are found chiefly in Poland, and among 



176 ESSENES. 

the Crim Tartars ; a few also in Egypt and Persia. But 
they are counted men of the best learning, and greatest 
probity and virtue among the Jews ; and it is remarkable 
among them, that they perform their public worship in the 
language of the country where they dwell. 

19 Q. What were the Essenes 1 

A. They seem to have been originally of the same sect 
as the Pharisees ; but they set up for a more mortified way 
of living, and perhaps more unblameable. They so far 
agreed with the Sadducees, as to acknowledge or expect no 
resurrection of the body ; but they believed a future state of 
eternal happiness or misery, according to their behaviour in 
this life. They seem to have been distributed into socie- 
ties or fraternities, and to have had no private possessions, 
but a common stock for the supply of all. They were in a 
special manner religious toward God both on the Sabbath, 
and in their daily devotions; they were just, and exceeding 
friendly and benevolent toward men. They did not disclaim 
marriage, but they entered into that state more rarely, and 
with great caution : and instead of children of their own, 
they bred up poor children in their own sect. They were 
very abstemious as to their food, and their habit was a plain 
white garment. Their rules of life are reported to us more 
at large by Josephus, and by Philo, two Jews ; they are also 
described by Pliny, a heathen, and by some of the christian 
fathers. 

20 Q. If they were a considerable sect in the days of 
our Saviour, how came it to pass that they are not mention- 
ed in the New Testament? 

A. Some have supposed that they seldom came into cities, 
but living so very plain and abstemious a life, they resided 
for the most part in the country; and thus they fell not under 
our Saviour's observation. And besides, they being a very 
honest and sincere sort of people, they gave no such reason 
for reproof and censure, as others very justly deserved. — 
Though it must be confessed also, that their disbelief of 
the resurrection of the body, their non-attendance on the 
temple worship, their traditional washings and self-invented 
purifications, their rigorous and needless abstinences from 
some sorts of meats, and other like superstitious customs 
and will-worship, might have given our Saviour just occa- 
sion for reproof, had they come in his way; and perhaps 



HERODIANS. 177 

they are censured under the general name of Pharisees, in 
those superstitious traditions wherein they both agreed. 

Note. Philo divides the Essenes into two kinds, the practical and 
the contemplative. They bound themselves by the most sacred 
oaths to a strict morality ; and none were admitted into their socie- 
ty without long and hard probation. 

21 Q. Now we are speaking of the several sects of the 
Jews, let us know also what were the Herodians 1 

A. This sect arose not till the time of Herod the great, 
king of Judea : and it is plain they had peculiar evil tenets, 
as well as the other sects, since our Saviour warned his 
disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. 
Indeed they opposed the Pharisees, and very justly in one 
point ; for the Pharisees scarcely thought it lawful to pay 
taxes directly to the heathens, though they acquired the 
sovereign power, and particularly to Caesar, in that day : 
but their special error, which Christ calls their leaven, 
seems to be this ; that it was lawful, when constrained by 
superiors, to comply with idolatry, and with a false religion. 
Herod seems to have framed this sect on purpose to jus- 
tify himself in this practice ; who being an Idumean by 
nation, was indeed half a Jew, and half a heathen ; and af- 
fected a conformity to the Gentiles in some things, to 
please the Romans who made him king, while at the same 
time he professed Judaism. 

Note. The Sadducees generally came into this complaisant opi- 
nion ; and the same persons who are called Herodians in Mark viii. 
15, are called Sadducees in Matt. xvi. 6. But this sect died in a lit- 
tle time : for we hear no more of them after the days of our Sa- 
viour. 

22 Q. Having done with the several sects of the Jews, 
let us return now and inquire who succeeded Hyrcanus at 
his death? 

A. Aristobulus, his eldest son, took the office of high 
priest, and governor of the country; and he was the first, 
since the captivity of Babylon, who put a diadem upon his 
head, and assumed the title of king. 

23 Q. What is recorded of him 1 

A. He put his own mother to death, because she made 
some pretence to the government ; he sent all his brothers, 
save one, to prison; then he attacked and subdued the Itu- 
reans, who live on the north east of tjie land of Galilee, and 



178 THE SUCCESSORS OF 

forced them to be circumcised and receive the Jewish reli- 
gion. At last he was persuaded to put his favourite bro- 
ther, Antigonus, to death, upon an unjust suspicion ; and 
then he died himself, vomiting' blood, and in great horror 
for his crimes. 

24 Q. Who succeeded him 1 

A. His next brother, Alexander, surnamed Jannseus, took 
the kingdom, who also put another of the brothers to death, 
because of some attempt to supplant him. 

25 Q. What success had Alexander in his government ? 
A. He having settled his affairs at home, attacked some 

of his neighbours, and dealt very deceitfully with Ptolemy 
Lathyrus, the heir to the crown of Egypt, who came to 
their assistance : whereupon there ensued a bloody battle 
between them, near the river Jordan in Galilee, wherein 
Alexander's army was utterly defeated, and he lost thirty 
thousand men. , 

Note. There is a very cruel and barbarous action attributed to 
Lathyrus on this occasion, namely, that coming with his army, in the 
evening after the victory, to take up his quarters in the adjoining 
villages, and finding them full of women and children, he caused 
them to be all slaughtered, and their bodies to be cut in pieces, 
and put into chaldrons over the fire to be boiled, as if it were for sup- 
per ; that so he might leave an opinion in that country that his men 
fed upon human flesh, and thereby might create the greater dread 
and terror of his army through all those parte. After this Lathyrus 
ranged at liberty all over that country, ravaging, plundering, and de- 
stroying it in a veiy lamentable manner : for Alexander, after this 
battle, was in no condition to resist him. 

26 Q. Did Alexander ever recover this defeat ? 

A. Cleopatra queen of Egypt, who, with her youngest 
son, withheld the kingdom from Lathyrus the eldest, did 
assist and support Alexander Jannseus, lest, if Lathyrus 
should have become master of Judea he might also have 
recovered Egypt out of her hands : whereupon Alexander 
raised his head again, besieged other places, and took Ga- 
dara, and Amathus towards Galilee, together with much 
treasure; but he was surprised by Theodorus, prince of 
Philadelphia, who had laid up that treasure there, and was 
overthrown, with the slaughter of ten thousand men. Yet, 
being a man of courage and diligence, again he recruited 
his army, took the city of Gaza from the Philistines, and 
gave thorough license to his soldiers there, to kill, plunder, 
and destroy as they pleased. He subdued their principal 



SIMON THE MACCABEE. 179 

cities, and made them part of his dominions ; whereupon 
several of the Philistines turned Jews : and indeed it was 
now grown a custom among the Asmonean princes to im- 
pose their religion upon all their conquests, leaving them no 
other choice but to become proselytes, or to be banished. 

27 Q. How did his own people, the Jews, carry it towards 
him 1 • 

A. The Pharisees continued their wrath against him, 
for rigorously maintaining the decrees of his father who 
abolished their constitutions ; and by their powerful influ- 
ence, they stirred up the people against him so far, that 
while he was executing the high priest's office at the altar, 
they pelted him with citrons, and called him reproachful 
names. 

28 Q. In what manner did Alexander resent it 1 

A. He slew six thousand of them immediately, and he 
chose his own guards out of the heathen nations, never 
daring afterwards to trust himself with the Jews. At last 
there broke out a civil war between him and his people, 
which lasted six years, brought great calamity on both, and 
occasioned the death of above fifty thousand persons. 

29 Q. How was the war carried on 1 

A. Though Alexander gained many victories over them, 
yet, being wearied out, he desired peace, and offered to 
grant them whatsoever they could reasonably desire : but 
upon his inquiry what terms would please them, they an- 
swered with one voice, " That he should cut his own 
throat." So dreadful was their enmity against him : and 
upon this answer, the war was still pursued with fury Gn 
both sides. 

30 Q. How was this war ended at last 1 

A. Alexander Jannseus, the king, having lost one great 
battle, resumed his courage, and afterward gained another, 
which concluded the war ; for having cut off the greatest 
part of his enemies, he drove the rest into the city of Be- 
thome, and besieged them there : and having taken the 
place, he carried eight hundred of them to Jerusalem, and 
there caused them to be all crucified in one day ; and their 
wives and children to be slain before their faces, while they 
hung dying on their crosses. In the mean time he treated 
his wives and concubines with this bloody spectacle at a 
feast. This terrified the Jews indeed so effectually, that 



180 THE SUCCESSORS OF 

they made no more insurrections against him; though he 
got a most infamous name by it, in that and the following 
Iges. A dreadful instance of the barbarity of a high priest 
with civil power ! A , 

31 Q Did this cruel tyrant come to a natural death 
A The providence of God, which does not always pu- 
nish sinners in this life, permitted him to die m the camp of 
a quartan ague, which had hung long upon him, while he 
was besieging a castle of the Gergesenes beyond Jordan 
And though he left two sons behind him, yet he bequeathed 
the government to Alexandra his wife, during her life; 
and to be disposed of at her death, to which of her sons she 

P 32 Q. How did this woman reconcile herself to the Jews, 
so as to permit her to reign over them ! 

A By her husband's advice upon his death-bed, she con- 
cealed his death, till the castle was taken ; then leading back 
the army to Jerusalem in triumph, made her court to the 
Pharisees, resigned up his dead corpse to their pleasure, to 
be abused or buried, as they should think fit, and promised 
to follow their advice in all the affairs of government For 
he had assured her, that they were the best of friends, and 
the worst of enemies; and that if she would but be ruled 
by them, they would make her rule over others. 

33 Q What success had this conduct of Alexandra? 

A All the success she desired. The people were influ- 
enced by the Pharisees to give the corpse of her husband 
an honourable funeral, she herself was settled in the go- 
vernment of the nations, and she made her eldest son Ilyr- 
canus high priest. , 

34 Q How did she administer the government under 
the direction of the Pharisees? 

A She immediately revoked the decree of John Hyr- 
canus, whereby he had abolished their traditional constitu- 
tions ; by which means the Pharisees and their traditions, 
grew into greater esteem and power than ever ; and she 
permitted them to put to death many of those who advised 
the late king Alexander to deal so cruelly with the people ; 
and some others of their own adversaries also were exe- 
cuted on this pretence, by her leave; for she dreaded a 
new civil war, and of two evils, she thought to choose the 



least. 



SIMON THE MACCABEE. 181 

35 Q t To whom did she leave the kingdom at her 
death ! 

A. To Hyrcanus her elder son, who had been entirely- 
bred up under the influence and tutorage of the Pharisees. 

36 Q. Did this Hyrcanus, the second, continue to reign 
in peace. 

A. Aristobulus, the younger son, finding that the army 
and the people were weary of the oppressive administration 
of the Pharisees, raised an army against his brother Hyrca- 
nus, put him to flight, forced him to resign the kingdom and 
the high priesthood, and to live a private life ; which he con- 
sented to, after he had been king three months ; for he natu- 
rally loved his own ease and quiet more than any thing else. 

37 Q. Was Aristobulus disturbed in his government'? 
A. There was one Antipater, an Idumean; (whose father 

was advanced to the government of Tdumea by the late king 
Alexander) and he himself being bred up with Hyrcanus, 
in the court of Alexandra, prevailed upon Hyrcanus to ac- 
cept of the assistance of Aretas, the Arabian king, to restore 
him to the kingdom ; for he assured him that his life was in 
so great danger from his brother Aristobulus, that he could 
save it no other way, but by dethroning him. 

38 Q. What success had Hyrcanus in following this 
counsel of Antipater 1 

A. By the help of Aretas he gained a great victory over 
Aristobulus, drove him into the mountain of the temple, and 
there besieged him ; where the priests stood by Aristobu- 
lus, while the people declared for Hyrcanus. 

39 Q. What heinous murder were the people guilty of 
at this time 1 

A. There was one Onias at Jerusalem, so holy a man, 
that he was thought by his prayers to have obtained rain 
from heaven in a great drought : And the people concluding 
that his curses would be as powerful as his prayers, pressed 
him to curse Aristobulus, and all that were with him. The 
good man finding no rest from their importunities, lifted up 
his hands toward heaven, and prayed thus: " O Lord God, 
rector of the universe, since those that are with us are thy 
people, and they that are besieged in the temple are thy 
priests, I pray that thou wouldst hear the prayers of neither 
of them against the other." Hereupon the multitude were 
so enraged, that they stoned him to death. 



182 THE SUCCESSORS OF 

40 Q. Did Hyrcanus's party prosper after this murder? 

A. Hyrcanus and his people Fell under great disappoint- 
ments at first; for the Romans spreading their empire far 
at this time, and being largely bribed by Aristobulus, they 
forced Aretas to raise the siege, whereupon Aristobulus pur- 
sued and routed him in battle, and slew multitudes of Iiyr- 
canus's party. 

41 Q. In what manner was this contest carried on after- 
wards ] 

A. The two brothers, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, first b 
their ambassadors, and afterwards in person, pleaded thei 
cause before Pompey, the general of the Romans, who was 
now at Damascus : while, at the same time, the people de' 
clared against both ; for they pretended they were not to be 
governed by kings, but by the priests of God. 

42 Q,. How was the controversy decided ! 

A. Pompey not giving a speedy determination, and Aris- 
tobulus suspecting the event, he retired and prepared for 
war: whereupon Pompey seized Aristobulus in one of his 
castles, and confined him in prison, and laid siege to Jeru- 
salem; and being received into the city by Hyrcanus's 
party, besieged also the temple and the castle Baris, and 
took it in three months' time. 

43 Q. How came the Romans to take so strong a place 
so soon 1 

A. Though the Jews had learnt from the beginning of 
the Maccabean wars, to defend themselves when attacked 
on the Sabbath ; yet being not actually assaulted, they per- 
mitted the Romans to build up their works and engines on 
the Sabbath, without disturbing them,; whereby the tower 
or castle, and with it the temple, were taken. 

44 Q. On what day was the temple taken 1 

A. On the very day which the Jews kept as a solemn 
fest, for the taking of Jerusalem and the temple by Nebu- 
chadnezzar : and it is remarkable, that the priests who 
were at the altar continued their devotions and their rites 
of worship, till they perished by the hands of the enemy. 

45 Q. What blood and plunder ensued in the temple ? 
A. Twelve thousand Jews were slain on this occasion, 

partly by Pompey's army, and partly by their own brethren, 
of the party of Hyrcanus. But when Pompey entered the 
sanctuary, he fore bore to touch anv of the sacred vessels 






SIMON THE MACCABEE. 183 

thereof, or the two thousand talents which were laid up 
there for sacred uses ; he ordered the temple to be cleansed, 
and sacrifices to be offered there according to their own 

laws. 

Note 1. After this preparation of the sanctuary by Porapey, it is 
observed that he never prospered ; this being the last of his victories. 

Note 2. Though Pompey was so moderate in his victory, yet in a 
little time after, Crassus, another Roman general, in his march through 
the country, seized and took away those two thousand talents, and the 
golden vessels of the temple, and rich hangings of inestimable worth. 
But the vengeance of heaven seemed to Follow him: his councils in 
his wars, from this time forward, were under perpetual disappoint- 
ment ; and he was slain in a war with a Parthian. His head was cut 
off; and melted gold was poured down his throat, by way of insult over 
his insatiable covetousness. 

46 Q. What was the final effect of this victory of the 
Romans 1 

A. Pompey demolished the walls of Jerusalem, put to 
death some of the chief supporters of Aristobulus, restored 
Hyrcanus to the high priesthood, and made him also gover- 
nor, but under tribute to the Romans, and reduced his do- 
minions to narrower bounds : then he carried Aristobulus, 
with his children, prisoners to Rome ; except his eldest son, 
who escaped. 

Note. From this quarrel between Hyrcanus the second, and Aris- 
tobulus, the ruin of Judea and Jerusalem must be dated, the final loss 
of the liberty of the Jews, and the translation of the sovereign au- 
thority to the Romans ; which had till then descended with the priest- 
hood, and been possessed by the Jews, though often under some 
tribute to Heathen princes. 

47 Q. Did Aristobulus or his sons ever attempt the re- 
covery of their power and government 1 

A. Being escaped from prison, they made several vigorous 
attempts, but without success. 

48 Q. What change did Jerusalem pass under through 
these times'! 

A. Gabinius, a Roman general, marching through Judea, 
in a little time made a great change in the government, les- 
sened the power of Hyrcanus, yet further, altered the con- 
stitution of the Sandhedrim, or Jewish senate; but all was 
restored again shortly after by Julius Caesar: for, at Anti- 
pater's request, he gave leave to rebuild the walls of Jeru- 
salem, and by a decree from the senate of Rome, the ancient 
friendship w T ith the Jews was renewed. 



184 SUCCESSORS OF SIMON, &c. 

49 Q. Where was Antipater all this while, who had ex- 
cited Hyrcanus to recover the government of Judea 1 

A. He did many services for Caesar in his wars in the 
neighbouring countries ; whereupon he was made his lieu- 
tenant in Judea under Hyrcanus, who was confirmed by 
Caesar in the government and high priesthood. And, at the 
same time, Antipater procured Phasael, his eldest son, to be 
made governor of 'the city of Jerusalem ; and Herod his se- 
cond son governor of Galilee, he being then only twenty-five 
years old. 

Note. This Herod grew up to high power afterwards ; he was 
called Herod the Great, and was king of Judea when our Saviour was 
born. 

50 Q. What became of Antipater at last? 

A. He was poisoned by one Malichus, a rival, who envied 
his greatness and power in Judea : but his death was re- 
venged by his son Herod, who was permitted by the Roman 
general Cassius, to procure Malichus to be murdered. 

51 Q. What further troubles did the Jews meet with 
about this time ? 

A. Some part or other of their nation were continually 
subject to plunderers, sometimes from the Roman generals, 
for not paying the tribute demanded, or on some other pre- 
tences ; sometimes by the Parthians, who assisted Antigo- 
nus, son of the late king Aristobulus, to recover Jerusalem 
and Judea, in opposition to the united forces of Phasael, and 
Herod, and Hyrcanus. 

52 Q. Did Antigonus ever recover this government? 

A. The Parthian general, Pacorus, who was at war with 
the Romans, did by mere treachery get into his custody both 
Hyrcanus and Phasael, seized Jerusalem, and rifled it, made 
Antigonus governor of Judea, and delivered up Hyrcanus 
and Phasael to him in chains ; but Herod made his escape. 

53 Q. What became of Phasael and Hyrcanus? 

A. Phasael beat out his own brains in prison ; Hyrcanus's 
ears were cut off', that being maimed, he might be no longer 
high priest, Lev. xxi. 17; and he was sent far off among the 
Parthians, that he might raise no disturbances against An- 
tigonus. 

54 Q. Whither did Herod take his flight ? 

A. After a little time he went to Rome, to represent all 
these transactions, and he made his complaints with great 



OF HEROD THE GREAT. 185 

and unexpected success ; for Julius Caesar being slain in the 
Roman senate, Mark Antony and Octavius (who was after- 
wards Augustus Cesar) governed all things there, and they 
agreed to make Herod king of Judea, With the consent of 
the senate, hoping it would be for their interest in the Par- 
thian war. 

Sect. VIII. Of the government of Herod the Great and 
his posterity, over the Jews. 

1 Q. What did Herod do on his receiving this new dig- 
nity] 

A. He returning to Judea, first relieved his mother, who 
was put in prison by Antigonus ; he made himself master of 
Galilee ; he destoyed some large bands of robbers which in- 
fested the country thereabouts, sheltering themselves in 
mountains, and the caves of steep and craggy rocks. 

2 Q. What artifice did he use in order to attack them? 
A. By reason of their dwelling in such hollow caves and 

precipices, there was no scaling them from below; and 
therefore to ferret them out of their dens, he made large 
open chests, and filled them with soldiers, which he let 
down into the entrance of those caves by chains from en- 
gines which he had fixed above, and thus he destroyed great 
numbers of them. 

Note. This country was often annoyed with the remains of these 
plunderers in the reign of Herod : but he treated them without mercy, 
and all the country that sheltered them with great rigour, till he 
restored peace to Galilee. 

3 Q. Where was his next march? 

A. Into Judea against Antigonus ; and after several bat- 
tles, with various success on both sides, at last, by the as- 
sistance of the Roman legions, he besieged Antigonus in 
Jerusalem. 

4 Q. Did not Herod himself attend to this siege 1 
A. Yes, but while the preparations were making for it, 

lie went to Samaria, and there he married Mariamne, a lady 
jof the family of the Maccabees or Asmoneans, the grand- 
daughter of Hyrcanus the second, a woman of great beauty 
[and virtue, and admirable qualifications, hoping that the 
Tews would more readily receive him for their king by this 
'alliance ; and having done this, he returned to the siege. 
Q2 



186 OF THE JEWS UNDER 

5 Q. Did he carry this place at last ! 
A. With the help of Sosius and a roman army, he took , 

rusalem by storm, after six months hard and bloody service 
in the siege, at which the Romans being- enraged, ravaged 
the city with blood and plunder, notwithstanding all 
Herod could do to prevent it ; and having taken king An- 
tigonus there, and sent him to Antioch, Herod persuaded 
Mark Antony, by a large bribe, to put him to death. 

Note. Here ended the reign of the Asmoneans or Maccabees, a£ 
ter that race had held the government one hundred and twenty 
years. During a great part of this time, as well as before, the various 
changes of these Jewish governors, or the interruption by heathen con- 
querors, filled the country of Judea with innumerable calamities 
and desolations, of which Jerusalem itself had a very large share, nor 
did they cease in the following years. 

6 Q. How did Herod begin his reign 1 

A. As he was forced to make his way to the kingdom 
through much blood, so he established himself 'by the same 
means, putting to death several of the partizans of Anti- 
gonus, and among them, all the counsellers of the great 
sanhedrim, except Pollio who is called Hillel, and Sameas 
who is called Shammai ; for both of them had encouraged 
the city to receive Herod ; though it was not out of love to 
him, but merely on this account, that it was in vain to re- 
sist him. 

Note 1. This Hillel and Shammai were two very great and emi- 
nent teachers among the doctors of tradition in the Jewish schools. 

Note 2. From Hillel came a long line of illustrious men, Simeon 
who is supposed to be the same who took Christ in his arms ; Gamaliel, 
who presided in the sanhedrim when Peter and the other apostles 
were brought before that body; R. Judah Hakkadosh, and many 
others. 

7 Q. Who was made high priest after the death of Anti- 
gonus, who was both priest and king 1 

A. At first Herod made one Ananelaus or Ananns high 
priest, who was an obscure man, but of the house of Aaron, 
educated among the Jews afar off in Babylonia, and therefore 
not so likely to oppose any of Herod's designs in Judea. 

8 Q. Did Ananelaus continue in the high priesthood? 

A. Herod's beloved wife Mariamne, and her mother, be- 
in o; of the race of the Maccabees, were ever teazing him to 



HEROD THE GREAT. 187 

make Aristobulus, Mariamne's brother, a lad of seventeen 
years old, high priest in Ananelaus's room, to whom indeed 
it rather belonged, as an heir-male of that family : this he 
at last complied with against his will: but in a very little 
time he procured him to be drowned, under pretence of 
bathing. 

9 Q» What became of Hyrcanus all this while 1 

A. Though he had been banished for so many years 
among the Parthians and Babylonians, yet he returned to 
Jerusalem upon the advancement of Herod, presuming that 
the marriage of his grand daughter, and his own former 
merits towards him, would secure to himself a peaceful old 
age in his own country, under Herod's protection. 

10 Q. How did Herod deal with him ? 

A. He received him at first with all respect, but some 
time after, found a pretence to put him to death, when he 
was above eighty years of age, lest one time or other, being 
of the family of the Maccabees, or Asmoneans, he should be 
restored to the kingdom. 

11 Q. Besides all these confusions, what other calamity 
happened to the Jews about this time ? 

A. A terrible earthquake ran through the whole land of 
Judea, and buried thirty thousand of the inhabitants in the 
ruins of their houses, in the seventh year of Herod's reign ; 
a grievous pestilence followed it in a little time, a long 
drought, and a desolating famine a very few years after, at 
which time Herod was very liberal to the people, but he 
could not gain their hearty affection. 

12 Q. Did Herod maintain his government, when his great 
friend Mark Antony was ruined, and vanquished by Octavius'? 

A. He took care to make early submission to Octavius ; 
he laid aside his diadem, when he waited on him, and with 
open heart he confessed his former friendship for Antony ; 
but he now assured Octavius of the same faithful friendship 
and obedience, if he might be trusted : upon which Octa- 
vius, who now assumed the name of Augustus Caesar, bid him 
resume his diadem, confirmed him in the kingdom, and was 
his friend and protector, even to his death. 

13 Q. Did he then continue to reign in perfect peace 1 
A. Domestic troubles broke the peace of his mind, and 

threw him into violent grief and rage, which further soured 
his tenroer for all his life after. 



188 OF THE JEWS UNDER 

14 Q. What were these domestic troubles ? 

A. He was jealous lest any man should possess so great a 
beauty as Mariamne his queen, after his death, and lest any 
remains of the family of the Asmoneans should hinder the 
succession of his own family to the kingdom of Judea ; and 
for these reasons he gave private orders when he went to 
Rhodes to see Octavius, that in case he died, both his wife 
and her mother should be put to death : which dreadful se- 
cret being communicated to his queen, she resented it to 
such a degree, that she would never afterwards receive 
him ; but notwithstanding all his kind addresses and impor- 
tunities, she perpetually followed him, with sharp reproaches 
for the murder of her relations, by which he secured the 
crown to himself, and upbraided his mother and sister with 
the meanness of their parentage. So that between his ex- 
cess of love, and rage, and jealousy, he was so tormented, 
and so wrought upon by the artifices of his mother, and sis- 
ter Salome, that at last he put his beloved Mariamne to 
death, under a pretence of an attempt to poison him; and he 
executed her mother too a little after the daughter, for a real 
plot against his life. 

15 Q. Did the death of Mariamne relieve him from this 
tumult of passion? 

A. By no means ; for now his love returned with violence, 
and his grief and vexation joined with other passions to ren- 
der him a most miserable wretch, a torment to himself, and 
outrageous to all about him. 

16 Q. What course of life did he follow afterward? 

A. He grew more arbitrary and cruel in his government, 
he put what persons he pleased into the high priesthood, 
and turned them out again at pleasure : he made several in- 
novations in the laws, customs, and religion of the Jews; 
and introduced spectacles of wrestlers, of combats between 
wild beasts and criminals, &c. in conformity to the heathens, 
pretending it was all necessary to please Caesar : and thus 
set the hearts of the Jews much more against him, who 
were very jealous of their religion and customs. Then, 
thinking it needful for his defence, as well as for his gran- 
deur and glory, he built several strong places and towers 
within and without Jerusalem ; he raised temples in several 
cities, and dedicated them to Caesar, who was his great 
friend, and though sometimes he remitted part of the taxes,,, 



HEROD THE GREAT. 189 

and did several beneficent actions to ingratiate himself with 
the people, it was all in vain, he could not obtain their love. 

17 Q. What was his greatest and most considerable 
attempt to please the people, and to perpetuate his own 
name 1 , 

A. He proposed to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem : for 
it having now stood near five hundred years, and being so 
often injured, broken, and repaired, he persuaded the people 
that a new one should be built with much more magnificence 
and glory. 

18 Q. But could he persuade the Jews to consent that 
their temple should be demolished, in order to rebuild it 1 

A. Not till he had assured them that the old temple should 
remain untouched till all materials were ready to build 
this new one ; which he actually provided at vast expence 
and labour in two years time, by employing ten thousand 
artificers for the work, a thousand wagons for carriage, 
and a thousand priests for direction. 

19 Q. Did he fulfil his promise in building this new 
temple 1 

A. Yes, he performed the work with prodigious cost and 
splendour, as it is described by Josephus : it was built of 
large stones, each twenty-five cubits long, twelve cubits 
broad, and eight in thickness, which the disciples desired 
our Saviour to take notice of with wonder, Mark xiii. 1, 2. 
The Sanctuary, that is, the holy place, and the most holy, 
which were more properly called the temple, were finished 
in a year and a half, so that divine worship was performed 
there ; and in eight years more he completed the several 
walls, and galleries, and pillars, and courts, according to his 
design. i 

20 Q. How could it be said then, John ii. 20, Forty and 
six years was this temple in building ? 

A. It was begun new forty-six years before that passover, 
when our Saviour being near thirty-one years old, was pre- 
sent at Jerusalem ; and though the grand design and plan 
was executed in nine years and a half, yet Herod and his 
successors were always building outworks round it, or adding 
new ornaments to it, even to that very day when Christ was 
there, and long afterward 1 

21 Q. When was it dedicated! 

A. The same year when it was finished, and on the an- 



190 OF THE JEWS UNDER 

niversarv-day of Herod's accession to the crown; and on 
"his atcount y it was celebrated with a vast number of sacri- 
fices, and universal rejoicing. 

Note Within four years after this dedication Jesus Christ our 
Saviour' vval ton, and was presented there an infant aecordmg to 
the law. . ., T 1 

22 Q. Was not this then the third temple of the Jews . 

\ No it was called the second temple still, because 
though it was built anew from the foundations, yet it was 
only by way of reparation, it not having been «rf«J 
demolished with a ruinous design, nor did it he in asnes 
"solution, as it did when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed 

U '23Q. Did Herod do any thing after this in favour of 

th A J When the Jews who were scattered throughout Greece 
and Asia Minor grew very numerous, and were much dis- 
turbed Tnd oppressed by other inhabitants, Herod procured 
br ttfem a new establishment of their liberties and privi- 
',„ permission to live in other countries according 
'to g their own laws and religion, which had been granted 
hem befor™by the kings of °Syria and by the Romans 
24 Q What further troubles did Herod meet with in 

'"a" His 'two eldest sons by Mariamne, namely, Aristobu. 
to and Alexander, whom he had sent to Rome fo r educa- 
tion, being returned to Jerusalem; in the heat o : their 
"ou h thev frequently expressed their resentments for the 
death of theirVother, and thereby became obnoxious to 
the ra-e of Salome, Herod's sister and favourite, and thus 
sue who had been one great and constant instrument to 
£w Ihe coals of jealousy and discontent between ^ Her d 
and his queen, and at last to occasion her deaOi, pursued 
the same course to make him jealous of some designs ot 

his sons against his life. •„„i„„o; =i 

25 Q What issue had these quarrels and jealousies 
A They continued several years. Plots were invented 
on bott siis: these gave Herod in his old age perpetua 
disquietudes, suspicions, and fears: but Salome to sister 
prevailed so far by her craft against his two sons, ™ at "£' 
Cy accusations'and acquitments «f them she at l^ t pr0 
cured their condemnation and execution by Herod s order, 



HEROD THE GREAT. 191 

and the consent of Augustus 'Caesar. This was but a year 
or two before the birth of Christ. 

26 Q. What was the general state of the heathen world 
about this time I 

A. All the known parts of the world were subdued to 
the Romans, and the nations were in peace; on which ac- 
count the temple of Janus was shut up at Rome, which 
had never been shut but five times since the first build- 
ing or* that city; and then Jesus Christ, the Prince of 
Peace, came .into the world, and was born at Bethlehem. 

27 Q. Wherein does it appear that the world was thus 
all at quiet under the government or dominion of the 
Romans ? 

A. Augustus Caesar, the emperor of Rome, issued out a 
decree that year for a general register of his whole empire, 
which St. Luke calls a taxing or enrolling of all the 
world, Luke ii. 1. This brought Mary the mother of 
Christ to Bethlehem, the city of David, to which family she 
belonged; and while she was there, she brought forth her 
son Jesus, as it is written, Luke ii. 1—11. 

Note. This year in which Christ was born, according to Bishop 
Usher's exact computation, is the four thousandth year from the crea- 
tion; which falls in with an old tradition of the Jews, that the 
world was to last six thousand years ; namely, two thousand years 
before the law, (or before Abraham, who was the father of circum- 
cision, and the Jews;) and two thousand under the law; that is, 
from Abraham to the Messiah ; and two thousand under the Messiah. 

And here I might conclude this chapter, having brought the Jew- 
ish affairs down to the birth of Christ. But it may give some light 
to the New Testament to carry it on a little farther. 

28 Q. What piece of cruelty was Herod guilty of, when 
he heard that a child was born who was to be king of the 
Jews? 

A. He slew all the young children in Bethlehem, that he 
might be sure to destroy Christ, and that his own posterity 
might be kings of Judea. 

29 Q. Whom did Herod design then for the successor to 
r his kingdom] 

j A. Antipater, his eldest son by Dor us, a wife which He- 
rod had before Mariamne; his father had raised him to 
some post of honour upon his displeasure with his other 

. sons, and he had been also active and busy himself, towards 
procuring the death of those two brothers. 



192 OF THE JEWS UNDER 

30 Q. Bid Antipater succeed his father in the kingdom, 
according to Herod's present design 1 

A. Antipater, longing for the crown and for his father's 
death, did really conspire to poison him, and being convict- 
ed thereof, had a sentence of condemnation passed upon 
him ; and it being confirmed by Augustus Csesar, was exe- 
cuted by his father's approbation. This was the third son 
whom Herod put to death. 

31 Q. When and in what manner did Herod die 1 

A. In the seventieth year of his age, and five days after 
the execution of his son Antipater, Herod himself died by 
a dreadful complication of diseases. He had a slow fever, 
an asthma, an ulcer in his bowels and his lower parts, 
which bred worms and lice ; he languished under extreme 
pain and torment till he expired, and seems to have been 
smitten of God in a signal and terrible manner, for his cru- 
elty, and the multiplied iniquities of his whole life. 

32 Q. What instance of cruelty was he guilty of even 
at his death] 

A. Knowing how much he was hated of the Jews, he 
concluded there would be no lamentation for him, but ra- 
ther rejoicing when he died ; and to prevent this, he framed 
a project, one of the most horrid that could enter into the 
heart of man ; he summoned all the chief Jews over the 
whole kingdom on pain of death to appear at Jericho, 
where he then lay; he shut them up prisoners in the circus, 
or public place of shows; he ordered and adjured his sis- 
ter Salome, and her husband Alexas, who were his chief 
confidants, to send in soldiers as soon as he was dead, 
and put them all to the sword ; For this, said he, will pro- 
vide mourners for my funeral, all the land over. 

33 Q. Was this barbarous and bloody command executed ] 
A. His sister Salome, as bad as she was, chose rather to 

break her oath to him, than to execute so horrid a design, 
and therefore she released them all after his death. 

34 Q. What posterity did Herod leave behind him % 

A. He had nine wives, and such of his posterity as are 
named in Scripture, are those that follow: namely, 1. Ar- 
chelaus his son, who succeeded him in the kingdom of Ju- 
dea and Samaria, Matt. ii. 22. 2. Herod Antipas, tetrarch 
or governor of Galilee, who cut off John the Baptist's head, 
Matt. xiv. 1, 3, 6. 3. Philip, governor of Iturea and Tra- 



HEROD THE GREAT. 193 

chonitis, Luke iii. 1; and 4. Herod Philip, who married his 
own niece, Herodias, and had a daughter by her called Sa- 
lome, who danced well : but Herodias afterward left him 
to marry Herod Antipas, his brother; for which, John the 
Baptist reproved this Herod Antipas, Luke iii. 19. 

This Herodias was daughter of Herod's son Aristobulus 
whom he put to death, and sister of Herod Agrippa, who 
slew the Apostle James, Acts xii. 1, 2, and was afterwards 
smitten of God, at Cassarea, ver. 20—23. Of this Herod 
Agrippa was born, that king Agrippa the second, before 
whom Paul pleaded his cause, Acts xxv. and xxvi. and his 
two sisters were, Drusilla, wife to* Felix the governor, Acts 
xxiv. 24; and Bernice, who attended her brother Agrippa 
to hear Paul plead. This genealogy is borrowed from Dr 
Pndeaux. 

35 Q. Did Archelaus continue long in his government'? 

A. He was guilty of many and great instances of ty- 
ranny, for which he was deposed and banished to Vienna, a 
town m Gaul, by the Roman emperor, when he had reigned 
in Judea between nine and ten years. 

36 Q. How was Judea governed afterwards 1 

A. The Romans were so much displeased with the evil 
practices of Archelaus, that they reduced Judea to the form 
of a Roman province, and ruled it afterwards by procura- 
tors or governors, who were sent thither, and recalled at 
their pleasure ; of whom the first was Quirinius, or as he 
is called in the New Testament, Cyrenius, Luke ii. 2. The 
power of life and death was taken out of the hands of the 
Jews, and placed in the Roman governor; and their taxes 
were paid more directly to the Roman emperor, and gather- 
ed by the publicans. 

37 Q. How did the Jews resent this ? 
A. The Pharisees, and the people under their influence, 
thought it unlawful to acknowledge a king who was not a 
I Jew, Deut. xvii. 15. From among thy brethren thou shalt 
bet a king over thee: and therefore, though they were 
constrained to pay tribute to Cesar, yet they scarcely allow- 
ed it to be lawful; upon this account, they looked upon the 
publicans with greater detestation than any of the tax-ga- 
'therers in former ages, while their governor was of the Jew- 
'ish nation or religion. 

Note. Though Herod was an Iduraean bv nation, vet all the Hu- 
ll 



194 OF THE JEWS UNDER 

means having received the Jewish religion, Herod was so far count- 
ed a lawful governor, as that they did not scruple paying taxes to him, 

38 Q. How was the high priesthood carried on at this 
time'? 

A. As Herod had done before, so the Roman governors 
continued to make high priests, and to depose them as often 
as they pleased, to answer their own purposes. 

39 Q. Who was high priest when our blessed Saviour 
was put to death 1 

A. Caiaphas, who was son-in-law to Annas, who had been 
himself high priest for fifteen years, and was deposed by one 
of their governors. ' 

Note. Caiaphas was not immediate successor to Annas, for there 
were three high priests came between them, who had been insti- 
tuted into that office, and deposed by the Romans: hence it may 
come to pass, that in the history of the gospels we frequently read 
of several chief priests at the same time, and of Annas and Caia- 
phas being high priest at the beginning of John the Baptist's minis- 
try, Luke iii. 2. For whether they had any coercive power given 
them by the Romans or no, yet being still alive, after they had been 
in that office, they might have their title given them by the people, 
and some of them had probably considerable influence in the Jewish 
affairs. In the case of Annas and Caiaphas, some suppose one to have 
been head of the Sanhedrim, and to have chiefly managed in civil 
affairs, the other in sacred. Others fancy one to have been the high 
priest, and the other the deputy high priest, or Sagan, who was al- 
ways ready to perform the office, if the high priest was indisposed or 
hindered : and some think they might rule alternately, or together, 
by permission or appointment of the Romans. It is evident, the sacred 
laws of Moses were not strictly observed at that time among them, 
nor long before. 

This Annas is supposed to be the same person with that Annanias 
whom Paul did not seem to acknowledge for God's high priest, when 
he reproved him, and called him thou whited wall, Acts xxxiii. 3 — 5. 

40 Q. Who was governor of Judea at that time 7 

A. Pontius Pilate : for Tiberius Caesar (who had reign- 
ed two or three years-together with Augustus at Rome, and 
had after his death succeeded him now nineteen years in 
the empire) had a few years before made this Pilate go- 
vernor. He was a man thoroughly prepared for all manner 
of 'iniquity, which he executed through his whole govern- 
ment ; and gave further proof of it in that unjust sentence, 
which he passed even against his own conscience, for the 
crucifixion of our blessed Lord, at the request of the wicked 
Jews. 



HEROD THE GREAT 195 

41 Q. What became of Pontius Pilate at last! 

A. He was in a very short time recalled by the Roman 
emperor for misdemeanours in his government, and banished 
to Vienne in France, where he is reported to have put an 
end to his own life by the sword. 

42 Q. Did the Jews grow wiser and better afterwards? 
A. They went on by persecution and rage against the 

gospel of Christ, and the professors of it, and by many other 
crimes, to fill up the measure of their iniquities ; till at last, 
upon their insurrection against the Romans, they were ex- 
posed to the fury of a conquering army, their city and tem- 
ple were utterly destroyed, according to the prophecy of 
Christ; eleven hundred thousand of the people perished, 
and the remains of their nation have been scattered abroad 
through the earth unto this day. 

43 Q. What general remark may be drawn from the 
whole history of the Jews since their return from the capti- 
vity of Babylon 1 

A. That the affairs of their church, and of their state 
have been for the most part so unhappy, they have been so 
much disquieted by the invasions and persecutions of the 
kings of the earth, so wretchedly corrupted with the intro- 
duction of human traditions, Pharisaical superstitions, and 
(heathenish rites among them ; and so" frequently and grie- 
vously oppressed by their own priests and princes, as well 
.as strangers, that they never did enjoy so peaceful, so pious, 
'and so flourishing a state, as to give a full accomplishment 
of all those glorious prophecies which relate to their happi- 
ness after their return from captivity. 

44 Q. What follows from this remark 1 

A. That there must be, in the decrees and providence of 
| God, a further reserve of peace, holiness, and happiness for 
the seed of Israel, which shall be conferred upon them in 
jthe latter days ; and therefore we cannot but expect a more 
large and general conversion of the Jews to the faith of 
jJesus the true Messiah, than hath ever yet appeared, with 
greater blessings upon that people, who were once so dear 
to God, and are beloved for their father's sake. St. Paul, 
in his eleventh chapter to the Romans, abundantly confirms 
, what the prophets encourage us to hope for. 



196 PROPHECIES RELATING TO 

CHAPTER XX. 

Of the Prophecies which relate to Jesus Christ our Sa- 
viour, and their accomplishment; or, a Prophetical Con- 
nection between the Old and New Testament 

INTRODUCTION. 

As I have given an Historical Continuation of the affairs of the 
Jews from the time of'Nehemiah, where the Old Testament ends, to 
the times of Jesus Christ our Lord ; so I have here inserted a chapter 
of some of the plainest predictions or prophecies which are tound in 
the Old Testament, that relate to the person, offices, and glories ot the 
Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, and are fulfilled in the gospel : and it 
may be called a Prophetical Connection between the Old 1 esta- 
ment and the New. >;- . • ■ , . 

I shall' scarcely mention any prophecy but what some ot tne wri- 
ters of the New Testament either directly cite, or to which they have 
a plain reference in some of their expressions. 

1 Q. Since the great subject of the New Testament is 
our Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel, tell me now what 
are the chief discoveries or representations made of him in 
the Old Testament] 

A. Beside the types or emblems of Christ and his gospel 
which are found in the Jewish worship, there are also seve- 
ral plain expressions in the books of the Old Testament, 
which are predictions or prophecies concerning him long 
before he came into the world. See some of the types in 
Chap. V. Quest. 116. . 

2 Q, What is the first and earliest prophecy ot Christ. 1 
A. Gen. iii. 15. Where God said to the first woman, 

that is, to Eve, that her seed should bruise the head of the 
Sernentt 

3 Q. Wherein is this prophecy fulfilled] 

A. Gal. iv. 4. God sent forth his son made of a woman, 
1 John iii. 8. The son of God was manifested, that he 
might destroy the works of the devil ; that is, he should 
destroy the mischievous designs and deeds of the devil, who 
lay hid in the serpent, when he tempted Adam and Eve to 
sin ; and this, in the language of prophecy, is called bruising 
the serpent's head. 



JESUS CHRIST* 197 

4 Q. What is the next plain prophecy of Christ? 

A. Gen. xviii. 18. and chap. xxii. 18. Where God tells 
Abraham, that in him and in his seed shall all the nations 
of the earth be blessed. 

5 Q. How does this appear to have a reference to Christ 1 
A. Gal. iii. 8. The scripture preached before the gos- 
pel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be 
blessed, ver. 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the 
promises made : He saith, to thy seed, which is Christ ; 
who was to be derived in a long course of generations from 
Abraham ; and therefore Christ may be called the son of 
Abraham, Matt. i. 1. 

6 Q. To whom was this promise given beside Abraham ? 
A. It was given to Isaac, the son of Abraham, Gen. 

xxvi. 4 ; and to Jacob his grandson, Gen. xxviii. 14. In thee, 
and in thy seed shall all nations be blessed. 

7 Q. Did Jacob prophecy concerning Christ 1 

A. Yes, in his dying speech to his son Judah, Gen. 
xlix. 10. The sceptre (or tribe, as the word signifies) shall 
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his 
feet until Shiloh come; and till the gathering of the people 
be unto him. 

8 Q. How can you prove that this prophecy relates to 
Christ? 

A. Shiloh, signifies one that is sent, which is the frequent 
character of Christ, that he was sent by the Father, John 
x. 36, &c. and ch. xvii. 18, 21, 23. (And indeed the Jews 
themselves own that it signifies the Messiah.) Now Judah 
did continue to be a tribe, and to have some sort of govern- 
ment amongst them till Christ came. He was about ten or 
twelve years old when Archelaus was deposed, and Judea 
reduced to the form of a Roman province, and then the 
power of life and death was taken from them. See Chap. 
XIX. Quest. 36. And when the People, that is, the Jews 
and the Gentiles, were gathered in great numbers unto 
Christ, then the tribe of Judah, or the Jewish nation, was 
broken to pieces and scattered, Jerusalem was destroyed, 
and all appearance of government among them was lost ; 
which is an effectual argument against the Jews that their 
Messiah is already come. 

9 Q. Who was the next person that prophesied concern- 
ing Christ 1 

r2 



198 PROPHECIES RELATING TO 

A. Moses, in the xviiith chapter of Deuteronomy, ver. 
15, 18. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Pro- 
phet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me : 
and to him shall ye hearken. 

10 Q. How does it appear Moses designed Jesus Christ 
in this prophecy ? 

A. St. Stephen the Martyr, cites these words in his dy- 
ing speech, when he was put to death for the sake of Christ, 
and applies them to him, Acts vii. 37. See also Acts iii. 22. 

11 Q. Bat were not many prophets, as Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
Elijah, Elisha, and several others, like unto Moses 1 

A. None of them, beside Jesus Christ, came to institute a 
new dispensation as Moses did ; or wrought such numerous 
and various miracles, to attest their doctrine. 

12 Q. Who was the next eminent prophet that spake 
plainly of Christ 1 

A. David speaks often of him in his book of Psalms, in 
many remarkable expressions: and describes his incarna- 
tion, his sufferings, his exaltation, and his various offices of 
prophet, priest, and king : namely, 

1. His coming into the world, to preach the truth of God, 
and the doctrine of righteousness, for the salvation of men, 
and the weakness and insufficiency of the Jewish sacrifices, 
Psalm xl. 6, 7, 8. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not de- 
sire; that is, the Jewish sacrifices w 7 ere not required as real 
and effectual expiations, because they could not take away 
sin: 'but mine ears thou hast opened. Then said I, Lo, I 
come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I de- 
light to do thy will, O my God. I have preached righteous- 
ness in the great congregation ; I have declared thy faith- 
fulness, and thy salvation, &c. The first part of this Psalm 
is expressly applied to Christ, Heb. x. 5, &c. and instead of 
the words, Mine ears hast thou opened, the Apostle ex- 
presses it, A body hast thou prepared me. And then he 
goes on to show how Christ made himself a perfect and ef- 
fectual sacrifice, instead of all the imperfect sacrifices under 
the law. 

2. His being chosen out of the Jewish nation to be the 
Saviour and the king of Israel is foretold under the emblem 
of David, Psalm lxxxix. 18, &c. Then thou spakest in 
vision to thy holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one 
that is mighty: I have exalted one chosen out of the peo- 



JESUS CHRIST. 199 

pie : — I will make him, my first-born, higher than the kings 
of the earth, &c. Christ is called the first-born of the crea- 
tion, and king of kings, Col. i. 15. Rev. xix. 16. 

3. The children in the temple singing his triumph when 
he entered into Jerusalem, is early intimated, Psalm viii. 2. 
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained 
strength, or perfected praise ; and in Psalm ex viii. 25, 26, 
you have the very words of their song, Save noio, I beseech 
thee, (which in the Hebrew is Hosannah :) O Lord : blessed 
is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, which is applied 
to Christ, Matt. xxi. 9. And as the Scribes and Pharisees 
raged, and had indignation against him on this account, so 
this very rage is intimated in the same viiith Psalm, ver. 2. 
The babes and sucklings cried out, and did still or silence 
the enemy and the avenger, that is, the revengeful enemy. 
And this is further hinted in the cxviiith Psalm, ver. 22, 
where David calls Christ, the stone xohich the builders re- 
fused, and which is become the Head Stone of the corner : 
The teachers and rulers of the Jews, who should have been 
the builders of the church, rejected Christ, and on this oc- 
casion he applies these words, to himself, Matt. xxi. 42, and 
they are applied to him by the apostles Paul and Peter, 
Eph. ii. 20, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner- 
stone; and 1 Pet. 1. 7. The stone which the builders dis- 
alloioed, is made the head of the corner. 

4. His persecution by princes and people, is declared in 
Psalm ii. 1. WJiy do the Heathen rage, and the people 
imagine a vain thing ! The kings of the earth set them- 
selves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, 
and against his anointed; that is, against his Messiah, or 
Christ, which was cited and fulfilled, Act iv. 26, 27, when 
Herod, and Pontius Pilate, and the people, both Gentiles 
and Jews, all rose up against Jesus of Nazareth, and put 
him to death. 

5. His bitter reproaches and sufferings, and the manner 
of his death, is foretold by David in the xxiid and xxxvth 
Psalms. In the beginning of the xxiid Psalm, David, by 
way of emblem, in prophecy, speaks the words of Christ 
upon the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me? ver. 16, 18. They pierced my hands and my feet: 
They parted my garments among them, and cast lots upon 
my vesture : And that he was brought down to the dust of 



200 PROPHECIES RELATING TO 

death, ver. 15. All these things were fulfilled when they 
nailed his hands and feet to a cross, when they cast lots 
for his garments and slew him, Matt, xxvii. 35, 46. John 
xix. 23, 24. 

His reproaches and his cruel treatment are described 
further, Psalm lxix. 20, 21. Reproach hath broken my 
heart ; I am full of heaviness: They gave me also gall for 
my meat, in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, 
Matt, xxvii. 48. 

6. His resurrection from the dead, Psalm xvi. 10. For 
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; that is, in the state of 
the dead, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see 
corruption ; that is, to lie long enough in the grave to be 
subject to rottenness. Thou wilt show me the path of life. 
Now this was evidently fulfilled in Christ, at his rising from 
the dead to life again, before he had lain three complete 
days, Acts ii. 31, and chap. xiii. 33 — 38. 1 Cor. xv. 4. 

7. His ascension to heaven, attended with angels, his 
triumph over the devils, his receiving gifts from the Father, 
and his distribution of them to men, are foretold in Psalm 
lxviii. 17, 18. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, 
even thousands of angels ; the Lord is among them. Thou 
hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou 
hast received gifts, for men : yea, for the rebellious also, 
that the Lord God might dwell among them. Which words 
are applied to our Saviour, being ascended to heaven, and 
having led the devils captive, and bestowed gifts on men, 
namely, prophets, apostles, &c. for the ministry of the Gos- 
pel that God might dwell among them, who before were re- 
bellious against him, Eph. iv. 8. See also Col. ii. 15. He 
spoiled principalities and powers, and triumphed, over them. 

8. His exaltation to the kingdom at God's right hand, 
and to the priesthood of intercession, is described particu- 
larly, Psalm ex. 1, 4. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit 
thou at my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool. 
And, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchise- 
dek: which expressions are applied to Christ, Matt. xxii. 
42, 44. Acts ii. 33, &c. Heb. v. 6, and chap. vii. 2, 3, 17, 
where Christ is exalted to be a king and a priest, as Mel- 
chisedek was, and that too a priest of constant intercession 
or pleading with God for men, and blessing them, as Mel- 
chisedek blessed Abraham. 



JESUS CHRIST. 201 

9. The character of this king" is described in several 
Psalms ; as in Psalm xlv. 6, 7. Thy throne, 'O God, is for 
ever and ever ; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness ; there- 
fore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of glad- 
ness above thy fellows. Which is a plain description of 
Jesus Christ, Heb. i. 8, 9, whom God anointed with the 
Holy Ghost and with power, Acts x. 38, and who had the 
holy spirit without measure, John iii. 34. And yet further, 
in Psalm lxxii, is a large character of Christ under the em- 
blem of Solomon. And Psalm lxxxix describes Christ un- 
der the character of David himself. 

10. In the second Psalm, his resurrection and exaltation 
are described under the distinct and peculiar character of 
the Son of God, ver. 6, 7. I have set my king upon my 
holy hill of Sion. And, I will declare the decree, Thou art 
my son, this day have I begotten thee, which is cited to 
prove the resurrection and advancement of Christ to the 
throne by the power of the father, and as the image of the 
father. He was the first king of Zion or Israel, as God is 
king of his church, Acts xiii. 33. Heb. v. 5; and he is now 
also Lord of the heathen, and king of all nations, as God is 
king or ruler of all the world. The 8th verse particularly 
declares the submission of the heathens to Christ, after he 
begun his work of intercession in heaven. Ask of me, and 
I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the 
utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. The next 
words also, namely, Thou shalt break them with a rod of 
iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel, are ap- 
plied to Christ, Rev. ii. 27, and foretell his power, and ven- 
geance against his enemies. 

Note. In some of these Psalms we should not have known Christ 
or the Messiah was intended, if Christ himself or the apostles had not 
cited them for this purpose ; yet some of them are so evident, that the 
ancient Jews applied them to the Messiah ; and we cannot but apply 
them to him, because they could not be applied to David, or to any 
other person. 

2. There might be also many other texts cited out of the book of 
Psalms, which are interpreted concerning Jesus Christ in the New 
Testament, which we should not otherwise have known to belong 
to him, as Psalm xcvii. 7. Worship him all ye Gods, which is applied 
to him in Hebrews i. 6. Let all the angels of God worship him, who 
in Scripture are sometimes called Gods. So Psalm cii. 25—27, are 
applied in the same chapter to Christ, and show us that the world was 



202 PROPHECIES RELATING TO 

created by him. Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the founds- 
tions of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands, &c. In 
both which texts, as well as in several others, the very same names, 
characters, and actions, which are attributed to Jehovah, the God of 
the Jews, the only true God, in the Old Testament, are applied to Je- 
sus Christ in the New. Which plainly advances his character so high 
as to assure us, that he is one with tne Father, that he is God mani- 
fested in the flesh ; whose name is Emmanuel, or God with us ; as 
we learn immediately from Isaiah the prophet. 

13 Q. We have heard various and express prophecies 
which David gave concerning" the Messiah; and did not 
Solomon also prophecy of Christ? 

A. Many Christians, in elder and latter times, have sup- 
posed that the eighth chapter of Solomon's Proverbs speaks 
of Christ in his divine nature, under the character of Wis- 
dom. 

Note. In these praises of Wisdom there is much that admirably 
applies to the divine Redeemer ; and some things which will scarcely 
admit of any other interpretation. Hence most orthodox divines have 
understood them of the Son of God, the Eternal Word ; so also have 
most of the ancient fathers. See Scott's Commentary. 

14 Q. Did not Solomon write the Song of Songs ? and 
is not Christ there foretold as the bridegroom and husband 
of the church 1 

A. The metaphors and similitudes of the same kind, 
which are used in the xlvth Psalm, and in some of the Epis- 
tles, and the book of the Revelation, have generally led ex- 
positors to apply this song to the spiritual characters and 
transactions of Christ and his church. 

15 Q. Which is the next of the prophets who speak of 
Christ, as they stand in order in our Bible ? 

A. Isaiah, who is called the evangelical, or gospel pro- 
phet, because he foretells the greatest variety of events that 
relate to Christ, namely : 

1. That he shall be born of a virgin, Isa. vii. 14. A vir- 
gin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name 
Emmanuel ; which was explained and accomplished when 
the Virgin Mary brought forth her son Jesus, Matt. i. 20 — 
23. The name Emmanuel signifies God with us. 

2. That he shall be of the family of Jesse, or David, who 
shall be king of Israel ; that his name shall be, the mighty 
God, and his kingdom shall stand for ever, Isa. xi. 10. In 
that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for 



JESUS CHRIST. 203 

an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek, Isa. 
ix. 6, 7. Unto us a child is born ; unto us a son is given ; 
the government shall be upon his shoulders : and his name 
shall be called wonderful, counsellor, the mighty God, the 
everlasting father, the prince of peace. Of the increase of 
his government and peace there shall be no end. Upon the 
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to 
establish it with judgment and justice, from henceforth even 
for ever. 

3. And yet that he should be rejected by many of the 
Jews, and should be received by the Gentiles, Isa. viii. 14. 
He shall be for a sanctuary ; that is, a refuge for mankind. 
But for a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to both the 
houses of Israel ; that is, both to Judah and Ephraim, who 
made up the Jewish nation ; or to the two kingdoms both 
of Judah and Israel, as they were distinguished in former 
times. Now this text is applied to Christ, Rom. ix. 33. 1 
Pet. ii. 8. His rejection by the Jews is foretold also in Isa. 
liii. 1 — 3. Who hath believed, <$fc. But that the Gentiles 
shall receive him for a Saviour and a king, Isaiah foretells 
in many places ; as chap. xlix. 6, 7. He shall be a light to 
the Gentiles, and salvation to the ends of the earth. To 
him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, 
that is, the nation of the Jews, kings shall look and arise ; 
princes also shall worship. Which must refer to the kings 
of the heathens, for the Jews had then no kings who wor- 
shipped him, Isa. xlii. 1, 6. Behold my servant, whom I 
have chosen, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I 
have put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment 
to the Gentiles. The same is repeated in several other 
chapters, Isa. liii. 10, and chap. lv. 4, 5. And speaking of 
the Jews who rejected Christ, he saith in chap. lxv. 15, 
Ye shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen, for the 
Lord God shall slay thee, and shall call his servants by ano- 
ther name. The name of a Jew is become like a word of 
reproach or curse among the Christians, who now are the 
servants of God. 

4. That he shall be full of the spirit of God, of wisdom, 
and knowledge, and piety, justice, and goodness: Isa. xi. 1, 
2. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, 
and a branch shall grow out of his roots ; and the spirit of 
the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and un- 



204 PROPHECIES RELATING TO 

derstanding, and the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit 
of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord. This is fulfilled 
in John iii. 34. He whom God hath sent, speaketh the word 
of God ; for God giveth not the spirit unto him by measure, 
Col. ii. 3. In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and 
knowledge, John i. 32. The spirit — abode upon him. 

5. His commission* for the ministry, or preaching the 
gospel, is also described by this prophet ; that he should pro- 
nounce terror to the wicked, and peace to the meek, and 
humble, and penitent: Isa. xi. 4. He shall smite the earth 
with the rod of his mouth, with the breath of his lips he 
shall slay the wicked, Isa. lxi. 1 — 3. The spirit of the Lord 
God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to 
preach good tidings unto the meek : he hath sent me to bind 
up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, 
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; to 
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of 
vengeance of our God ; to comfort all that mourn, &c. 
Which was evidently fulfilled in Jesus Christ, when he pub- 
lished pardon of sin, and everlasting life to those that repent 
and believe in him; and pronounced the punishments of hell 
upon the impenitent ; and our Saviour particularly applies 
this prophecy to himself, Luke iv. 18 — 21. 

6. That he shall work miracles of healing, when he 
comes to be a Saviour, Isa. xxxv. 4. Behold your God will 
come, and save you : then the eyes of the blind shall be 
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped : then 
shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the 
dumb shall sing. Which was fulfilled when our Saviour 
wrought these miracles, not only on other occasions, but 
more eminently in the sight of the disciples of John the 
Baptist, who came to learn whether he were the Christ or 
no, Matt. xi. 2 — 6. And our Saviour proves it by his mira- 
cles before their eyes. 

7. That he should have a forerunner to prepare his way 
in the wilderness : Isa. xl. 3. The voice of him that crieth 
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord ; make 
straight in the desert a highway for our God : And the 
glory of the Lord shall he revealed, and all flesh shall see it 
together: that is, The glory of the Lord shall be made visi- 
ble to fleshly eyes, by dwelling bodily, or in the body of 
Jesus Christ, when God shall manifest himself in the flesh, 



JESUS CHRIST. 205 

1 Tim. iii. 16. And John the Baptist was his forerunner in 
the wilderness of Judah, Matt. iii. 1, 2, 3. 

8. The sufferings of Christ also, and his meekness and 
patience under the contempt, reproaches, and persecution 
he met with ; his death as an atonement for sin ; his being 
numbered among vile sinners; his burial with the rich; his 
resurrection, exaltation, and intercession ; are all spoken of 
in that admirable chapter, Isa. Iii. which I desire my read- 
ers to peruse in this place ; for the whole of it is expressed 
in language so exceeding plain, that it seems sufficient to 
convince any honest infidel or heathen ; and it did actually 
convince that wild and atheistical nobleman, the earl of 
Rochester, in the last age, of the truth of the gospel, when 
he compared these words of the prophecy of Isaiah with 
the xxvith, and following chapters of the gospel of St. Mat- 
thew, and he became a Christian penitent. (See Bishop Bur- 
net's Life of Rochester.) 

16 Q. Did Jeremiah prophecy concerning Christ 1 

A. Yes, in a few places of his prophecy, Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. 
Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto 
David a righteous branch ; and a king shall reign, and pros- 
per, and execute judgment, and justice in the earth. In his 
days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely ; 
and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord 
our Righteousness. Which is repeated, Jer. xxxiii. 14, 
15, 16. 

There are also some other prophecies relating to Christ 
and his gospel, in Jer. xxxi. 15, 33, 34, some of which are 
cited in the New Testament, Matt. ii. 17, 18. Heb. viii. 
8—11. 

17 Q. Did Ezekiel foretell any thing concerning Christ? 
A. Yes, under the character of David, the servant of God, 

who was both a shepherd and a king : Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24. 
And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed 
them, even my servant David : and I the Lord will be their 
God, and my servant David a prince among them : *and I 
will make with them a covenant of peace, Ezek. xxxvii. 
21 — 28. I will take the children of Israel from among the 
heathen, whither they be gone : I will gather them on every 
side, and bring them into their own land ; and I will make 
them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, 
and one king shall be king to them all, ver. 24. Now Christ 

S 



206 PROPHECIES RELATING TO 

Jesus was this great shepherd of the people, John x. 1 — 16, 
and king of Israel, John i. 49, and chap. xix. 19, 21. Heb. 
viii. 10. 

18 Q. What were the prophecies of Daniel concerning 
Christ] 

A. Daniel describes him as the son of man who came 
with the clouds of heaven ; and there was given him domi- 
nion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people and nations 
should serve him ; and his dominion is an everlasting domi- 
nion, Dan. vii. 13, 14. Now our blessed Saviour is conti- 
nually called the son of man in the history of the gospel ; 
and is said to come in the clouds of heaven, Matt. xxiv. 30, 
and chap. xxvi. 64, and universal dominion is given him, 
Matt, xxviii. 18. 

There is also another very remarkable account of Jesus 
Christ, or the Messiah, given to Daniel by the angel Ga- 
briel, Dan. ix. 24, &c. that before the full end of seventy 
weeks, that is, seventy times seven days, which, in prophe- 
tical language, are four hundred and ninety years, after the 
commission to Nehemiah to restore Jerusalem, and the 
church of the Jews ; the Messiah shall be cut off, but not 
for himself: that this term of years is appointed to finish 
transgression, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation 
for iniquity, to bring in an everlasting righteousness, to seal 
up the vision and prophecy, and anoint the most holy. And 
after this, the people of the prince that shall come, that is, 
the Romans, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. 
All which were fulfilled in their proper seasons, by the 
death of Christ, his atonement for sin, and the destruction 
of Jerusalem and the temple some time after. 

19 Q. What is the next remarkable prophecy concerning 
Christ in the books of scripture 1 

A. Micah tells us the place where Christ should be born, 
Micah v. 2. Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be 
little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall 
he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose 
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Which 
prophecy is plainly fulfilled, Matt. ii. 1 — 6, and Luke ii. 4, 
5, when Mary the mother of Christ went up to Bethlehem 
to be taxed there, being of the family of David, together 
with Joseph her husband, of the same family, and there she 
rought forth her son Jesus. 



JESUS CHRIST. 207 

20 Q. What did Haggai foretell concerning Christ ? 

A. Hag. ii. 6 — 9. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, yet 
once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and 
the earth, and the sea, and the dry land : and I will shake 
all nations ; and the desire of all nations shall come, and 
I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts: 
and the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of 
the former ; saith the Lord of Hosts. Which is naturally 
explained thus; "He who was the desire of all nations, 
or who should be desired as a Saviour by the Jews and 
Gentiles should come (as Malachi expresses it) into his 
temple, Mai. iii. 1. And by this mean3, even by his 
own presence, should make the latter temple, which was 
built after the captivity, more glorious than that of Solo- 
mon ; though its richness and magnificence, in all outward 
respects, were far inferior to Solomon's." This is the only 
reasonable construction that can be put upon these words. 

21 Q. Does Zechariah tell us any thing concerning 
Christ ? 

A. Though his prophecy be generally pretty obscure, yet 
in several places he speaks those things which plainly re- 
late to the Messiah ; some whereof are cited and applied 
to Christ in the New Testament, and several of them were 
attributed to the Messiah by the ancient Jews. See the 
texts that follow. 

He tells us in chapter vi. ver. 12, 13 : — Thus speaketh 
the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is 
the branch, he shall build the temple of the Lord, he shall 
bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and 
he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the council of 
peace shall be between them both : and they that are afar 
off, shall come and build in the temple of the Lord. — 
Wherein the prophet informs us, " that this person, whom 
foregoing prophets have called the branch out of the root of 
Jesse, shall build up the church of God in the world, shall 
be both a priest and a king, with counsels of peace ; and 
the heathens that are afar off shall come and assist this 
work of building up the church." 

This same prophet declares also, that Christ should come 
to Jerusalem as the king of Zion, meek and bringing sal- 
vation, riding upon a colt the foal of an ass, Zech. ix. 9, 
which v/as fulfilled, Matt. xxi. 5, and John xii, 15. 



208 PROPHECIES RELATING TO 

22 Q. Does this prophet say any thing concerning the 
remission of sins to be obtained through Jesus Christ 7 

A. Yes, there is a remarkable prophecy in Zech. xiii. 1, 
which must be referred to this subject. In that day there 
shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and the 
inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness ; that 
is, by the death of Christ, and his blood making atonement 
for sin. And ver. 7, his sufferings are described, which 
should be inflicted on him, when God himself should bruise 
him, and make his soul an offering for sin, as Isaiah ex- 
presses it ; and that his disciples for a season should for- 
sake him. Zech. xiii. 7. Awake, O sword, against my 
shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the 
Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be 
scattered, which was fulfilled, Matt. xxvi. 56. 

And besides all this, his sufferings from the hands of 
men are also described: namely, that he should be sold 
for thirty pieces of silver, which should be given to the 
potter, Zech. xi. 12, 13, which the prophet speaks as per- 
sonating the Messiah, as David had often done before ; and 
it was fulfilled, Matt, xxvii. 9, 10. The prophet foretells 
also the manner of his death, namely: that he should be 
pierced; and intimates the conversion of some of those 
Jews who crucified him, Zech. xii. 10. I will pour out on 
the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the 
spirit of grace and supplication ; and they shall look on 
me (or him) whom they have pierced, and mourn for him : 
fulfilled in John xix. 34, 36, when hi3 side was pierced with 
a spear, and his hands and feet with nails ; and Acts ii. 23, 
36, 37, 41, when his crucifiers were converted ; whereof a 
fuller and more glorious accomplishment is expected in the 
latter days among the Jewish nation, who have been pierc- 
ing him with reproaches almost ever since, Rom. xi. 12, 15, 
25—32. 

23 Q. And what does Malachi, the last of the prophets, 
speak concerning Christ 1 

A. His prophecy is expressed in pretty plain language, 
chapter iii. 1. Behold, I will send my messenger, namely, 
John the Baptist, and he shall prepare the way before me, 
Matt. xi. 10. And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly 
come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, 
whom you delight in. And he shall sit as a refiner and puri- 



JESUS CHRIST, 209 

fier of silver ; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, that 
they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. — 
Now this was accomplished when Christ came into the tem- 
ple, and when he reformed the evil practices of the priests 
and people. 

24 Q. You have given us a large account of what the 
Jewish prophets have foretold, but were there no others be- 
sides the Jews who prophecied concerning Christ ? 

A. Yes, there are two very remarkable persons who were 
not Jews, whose expressions have a reference to our bless- 
ed Saviour ; and these were Balaam and Job. 

25 Q. What did Balaam say concerning Christ ? 

A. There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre 
shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of 
Moab ; and destroy all the children of Seth ; Seir and Edom 
shall be a possession ; and out of Jacob shall come he who 
shall have dominion, Numb. xxiv. 17, &c. 

26 Q. What reason is given to prove that this refers to 
Christ 1 

A. Christ is called the Morning-Star, Rev. xxii. 16. — 
He was of the family of Jacob or Israel ; he shall smite 
and destroy the enemies of the church, and have the hea- 
thens for a possession; and his dominion is everlasting, 
Psalm ii. 6—9. Matt. ii. 2, 9. 

27 Q. What is the remarkable prophecy which Job spake 
concerning Christ 1 

A. Job xix. 25, 26. I know that my Redeemer liveth, 
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth ; and 
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my 
flesh shall I see God. 

28 Q. When is this prophecy to be fulfilled 1 

A. When Christ the Redeemer, who lives in heaven shall 
come to raise the dead, and to judge the world, he shall 
stand at last upon the earth, after his enemies are conquer- 
ed: and the children of God in their new raised bodies 
shall see God ; that is, shall see Jesus Christ the Redeemer, 
who is Emmanuel, or God with us ; and who is described 
as God manifest in the flesh, 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. 2 Thess. 
i. 7—10. 1 Cor. xv. 24—26. 1 Tim. iii. 16. 

29 Q. What great and evident truths may be inferred 
from this long train of prophecies concerning Jesus Christ 
our Saviour 1 

s2 



210 THE PROPHECIES OF JESUS CHRIST, <fec. 

A. We learn, that from the beginning of the world, ever 
since the sin and fall of Adam, throughout the several ages 
of mankind, there hath been a continual succession of pro- 
phecies given from God, who foreknows all things, concern- 
ing some great and glorious deliverer and Saviour, who 
should be manifested to the world in time ; and that he 
should appear as the king of Israel, and for the salvation 
both of Jews and Gentiles. And accordingly, besides a 
general expectation thus excited, he has been particular- 
ly looked for by those good men in several ages who were 
best acquainted with the Scriptures, and particularly in 
that age wherein Jesus Christ appeared. See Luke i. 69, 
70, and xxiv. 27. Acts iii. 18—24. 

30 Q. But does this determine Jesus the son of Mary, to 
be this glorious person, this expected Saviour? 

A. Since all the characters which so many prophets, in so 
many different ages, have given concerning the Messiah or 
Christ the Saviour, and the innumerable types and figures 
of the old dispensation do really agree and meet together 
in Jesus, and in none besides; they leave us no room to 
doubt whether this Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, be 
the Christ or not. 

Note. Beside the evidence for the Messiahship of Jesus, de- 
rived from the foregoing applications of prophecy, and many others 
that might be noticed were it consistent with the brevity of this work, 
the testimony of the evangelists and apostles affords an independent 
proof. That Jesus of Nazareth is the predicted Saviour we know, not 
only because the prophecies are exactly applicable to him and to no 
other ; but because the evangelists and apostles have asserted this 
application, and established the truth of their declarations, by their ex- 
traordinary works. 



THE 

HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

ABRIDGED BY WAY OF QUESTION AND ANSWER. 

INTRODUCTION, 

Having finished the history of the Old Testament, and related 
in short the affairs of the Jews, so far as we find them recorded else- 
where, we proceed now to the history of the New. The chief sub- 
jects of it are our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind ; John 
the Baptist, who w T as his forerunner, and the Apostles, w T ho were his 
followers. 

The history of John the Baptist is but short; it contains a brief nar- 
rative of his birth, his ministry, and his death. 

The history of Christ our Saviour is much larger, and it may be 
divided into three distinct parts, namely: The account of his birth and 
childhood; the account of his public life and ministry ; and the ac- 
count of his death, resurrection, and ascension. 

The history of the Apostles, after our Saviour's ascension, begins 
with an account of the twelve Apostles in general, but chiefly of St. 
Peter and St. John ; and proceeds more largely to a particular account 
of the travels, labours, and sufferings of St. Paul : And this concludes 
the Scripture History, except the incidental notices in the epistles, and 
what is contained in the visions of St. John, in the Revelation. 

The writers of this history are St. Matthew, and St. John, the 
Apostles, St. Mark, the companion of St Peter, and St. Luke, the 
companion of St. Paul. Tt is contained chiefly in the four Gospels, 
WTitten by those evangelists whose names they bear; and in the 
Acts of the Apostles, of which Luke was the writer; though some 
further hints and memoirs may be collected from some parts of the 
Epistles. (See Paley's Horse Paulinae.) 



CHAPTER XXI. 
Of John the Baptist. 

1 Q. As the Old Testament begins with the Creation 
of the world, so the first Question here is, Who was the Sa- 
viour of the world 1 

. 211 



312 OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

A. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was sent down 
to dwell among men, in order to become their Saviour, 
Matt. i. 21. 1 Tim. i. 15. John iii. 17. 1 John iv. 14. 
Matt. xx. 28. 

2 Q. What notice was ever given of his coming ? 

A. God himself, by the mouth of his holy prophets, 
throughout all ages, foretold his coming as some great de- 
liverer, as the Messiah, or anointed of God, Luke i. 70. 
Acts iii. 18. (See Chap. XX. of this work.) 

3 Q. Were there any plain marks or characters given of 
him, whereby he might be known 1 

A. Yes, many characters of him are found in the books 
of the Old Testament, as the foregoing chapter declares ; 
and he has answered them all, both in his life, his doctrine, 
his death, and his resurrection. 

4 Q. Was such a Messiah expected by the Jews, to 
whom the books of the Old Testament were given 1 

A. He was long expected by them, and particularly in that 
age wherein he came ; and that both by the Jews and the 
Samaritans, John i. 45. Luke viii. 15. John iv. 25, 29. 

Note. It is worth our observation, that not only the Jews and 
Samaritans, but the Heathens also about this time, expected some 
great king, or glorious person to be born. 

Virgil, the Roman poet, who lived in the time of Augustus Caesar, 
in his fourth eclogue, is supposed to describe the blessings of the go- 
vernment and age of some great person, who was or should be born 
about this time : and he does it in language very agreeable to the 
Jewish prophet's description of the Messiah, and his kingdom. Some 
suppose that he borrowed this sense from some ancient books of the 
Prophetesses, who were called Sybils. But it is evident that those 
writings of the Sybils, which are delivered down to us, have so many 
signs of forgery, that we can give no great credit to them. 

Suetonius, a Roman writer, tells us, in the life of Augustus Caesar, 
that there was one Julius Marathus declared, " that Nature was about 
to bring forth a king for the people of Rome." He says also, in the 
life of Vespasian, " that there had prevailed over all the eastern part 
of the world, a constant opinion, that about that time there should 
come out of Judea one who should obtain the empire of the world." 
Tacitus, another of their historians, saith the same thing; and, " that 
it was contained in the ancient books of the Jewish Priests, so that 
both Jews and Gentiles expected now some glorious person to arise in 
the world." (See Porteus' Evidences.) 

5 Q. Who was the forerunner, or the messenger sent to 
declare that he was just at hand ? 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 2U 

A. John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, 
Luke i. 5, 6, 7. Mark i. 2. 

6 Q. Who was Zacharias? 

A. A good man, and a priest, who was childless till his 
wife and he were both grown old, Luke i. 6, 7. 

7 Q. What was there remarkable in the birth of John? 
A. The angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias while he 

was offering incense in the temple, and the people were 
praying without, and told him that he should have a son, and 
should call his name John, Luke i. 9, &c. 

8 Q. What sign did the angel give of the truth of this 
message 1 

A. That Zacharias should be dumb, and not able to speak 
till John was born, ver. 20. 

9 Q. What honour was done to Elizabeth, while she was 
with child of her son 1 

A. The virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, made a visit 
to her, and they both rejoiced and praised God together in a 
divine rapture, Luke i. 39 — 55. 

10 Q. When was Zacharias released from his dumbness, 
and his voice restored to him ? 

A. When his wife brought forth a son, and they were 
going to circumcise the child, he wrote his name John on a 
table, and then his tongue was loosed, and he spake the 
praises of God, ver. 59 — 64. 

11 Q. Where was John brought up? 

A. In the desert country, or wilderness of Judea, and 
there also he began his public ministry, when he was about 
thirty years of age, ver. 80, and Luke iii. 2. 

12 Q. What was his chief commission from God ? 

A. He was sent to preach the doctrine of repentance and 
forgiveness of sins ? to baptize or wash with water those 
who professed their repentance; and to direct the people to 
Christ as the Saviour, Mark i. 4, 5. John i. 26, 31. 

13 Q. What further instructions did he give the people ? 
A. He bid them not trust in their being the children of 

Abraham : he taught them lessons of love and liberality; to 
give food and clothing to those who wanted : and he gave 
special directions to the Pharisees and Sadducees, to the 
Publicans, and the soldiers who came to be baptized, Matt, 
iii. 7, 8. Luke iii. 7 — 14. 



214 OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

14 Q. What directions did he give to the Pharisees and 
Sadducees? 

A. He bid them bring forth fruits in their lives, to make 
their repentance appear, as well as profess it with their lips, 
Matt. iii. 7, 8. 

15 Q. What advice did he give the publicans or tax- 
gatherers ] 

A. To exact or demand no more money of the people 
than what was appointed, Luke iii. 13. 

16 Q. And what was his counsel to the soldiers! 

A. To do violence or injury to none, to accuse no person 
falsely, and to be content with their pay, Luke iii. 14. 

17 Q. What did he say concerning himself? 

A. That he was not the Christ, nor the very prophet 
Elias risen from the dead ; but that he was only come as a 
voice in the wilderness, to prepare the way of the Lord, 
according to the prophecy of Isaiah, John i. 20 — 23. Isa. xl. 3. 

18 Q. But does not Jesus Christ himself say, that John 
was Elias or Elijah ? 

A. Yes, because he came in the spirit and power of Elias, 
to prepare the way for Christ, according to the sense of the 
prophet Malachi, Mai. iv. 5. Luke i. 17. Matt. xvii. 12, 13. 

19 Q. Wherein did he imitate or look like Elias or Eli- 
jah? 

A. That he wore a garment of hair ; that he lived an 
austere life, like Elijah, in the wilderness ; that he came to 
begin a reformation among the Jews, as Elias did, when they 
were greatly corrupted ; and he reproved Herod as Elias 
reproved Ahab, Mark i. 6, and ix. 13. Matt. xiv. 3, 4. 

20 Q. What did he say concerning Jesus Christ? 

A. He declared, that though Jesus came after him, yet 
he was not worthy to bear his shoes ; that he only baptized 
with water, but Jesus would baptize with the holy ghost 
and with fire, and he pointed him out in the midst of the 
people ; This is the lamb of God, that taketh away the sins 
of the world, John i. 29—34. Matt. iii. 11. 

21 Q. How did he come to know Jesus Christ? 

A. He had some notice given him privately from God, 
and he had a further public sign from heaven to confirm his 
knowledge of him. 

22 Q. What was that public sign? 

A. When Jesus was baptized by John at the river Jordan, 



OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 215 

the holy ghost came down like a dove, and rested upon 
him, as God had foretold him, Matt. iii. 16, 17, and John 
i. 31—33. 

23 Q. Did the disciples of John immediately leave him, 
and follow Jesus ? 

A. No, for Jesus had not then begun his public ministry. 

24 Q. How did John further recommend Jesus Christ to 
his disciples? 

A. Some time after, he sent them to see the miracles that 
Jesus wrought, that they might be convinced that he was 
the Messiah, Matt. xi. 2 — 6. 

25 Q. What became of John the Baptist? 

A. He was cast into prison by Herod, because he re- 
proved him for taking Herodias his brother Philip's wife, 
Matt. xiv. 3, 4. 

26 Q. Did not Herod hear John preach sometimes, and 
reformed some of his evil practices upon it? 

A. Yes, he did, and yet he was persuaded to put him to 
death at last, to satisfy the malice and revenge of this 
wicked woman, Mark vi. 23, 29. 

27 Q. How came this to pass? 

A. Upon Herod's birth-day the daughter of Herodias 
pleased the king so well with her dancing, that he pro- 
mised to give her whatever she asked; and her mother 
bid her ask for John the Baptist's head in a dish, Matt, 
xiv. 6—8. 

28 Q. And did Herod then comply with this bloody re- 
quest 1 

A. Yes, for he had sworn to it before a great deal of com- 
pany ; and rather than break his rash and sinful oath, he 
would kill a prophet of God, Matt. xiv. 9 — 11. 

Note. Oaths or vows sinful in themselves are not to be kept. It 
indicates great pride and hardness of heart to persevere in fulfilling 
them. They ought to be repented of, and carefully guarded against 
as a snare. 

29 Q. What became of the body of John the Baptist ? 
A. His disciples took it up and buried it, ver. 12. 

30 Q. Whither did his disciples go afterward 1 

A. They went and told Jesus what had befallen their 
master, and probably they became the disciples of Jesus, 
ver. 12. 



$16 THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 

CHAPTER XXIL 
Of the birth and childhood of Jesus Christ. 

1 Q,. Who was Jesus Christ 1 

A. The Son of God, who came into this world to be the 
Saviour of men, 1 John iv. 14. John iii. 17. 

2 Q. What does the name Jesus Christ signify ] 

A. Jesus or Joshua, (which is his proper name) signifies 
a Saviour ; and Christ, is the same in Greek that Messiah 
is in Hebrew, which signifies his being anointed, or appoint- 
ed to that office, Matt. i. 31. John i. 41. Psalm ii. 2. 

3 Q,. Where did he dwell before he came into this world \ 
A. He dwelt with God his father in glory before this 

world was made, John xvii. 5, and chap. i. 1,2, 14. 

4 Q. In what manner did he come into this world I 

A. He laid aside his glory, he took a body of flesh and 
blood, which God had prepared for him, and was born of 
Mary, who was a virgin, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, 
Phil. ii. 7. Heb. ii. 14; and x. 5. Matt. i. 20, 23. tsa. vii. 14. 

5 Q,. Who was this Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ ? 
A. She was a poor young woman of the family of David, 

who was espoused to, or had consented to marry Joseph, a 
carpenter, who was also of the house of David, that royal 
family being then fallen into decav, Matte i. 18, 20. Luke 
i. 32. Matt. xiii. 55. 

6 Q. Did Joseph marry her afterwards ? 

A. Joseph was admonished by an angel of God to marry 
her without fear, because the child that was formed in her 
was by the spirit of God, Matt. i. 20. 

7 Q. What notice had Mary that she should have such a 
son? 

A. The angel Gabriel was sent to her at Nazareth, where 
she dwelt, to assure her, that the power of the most high 
God should overshadow her, and that she should bring forth 
a child who should be called the son of God, Luke i. 26, 35. 

8 Q. How was Mary further encouraged in this hope 1 
A. While she was with child with her son Jesus, she 

went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was then with child 
of John the Baptist : Elizabeth saluted her as the mother of 
the Messiah, and they were both inspired to praise the Lord 
with divine raptures, Luke i. 39 — 55. 



OF JESUS CHRIST. 217 

9 Q. Where was Jesus Christ born 1 

A. In Bethlehem, the city of David, according to the pro- 
phecy of Micah, Luke ii. 4. Matt. ii. 5, 6. Micah v. 2. 

10 Q. How came Mary to lie-in at Bethlehem ] 

A. Augustus Caesar, the emperor, had decreed to tax or 
register all the world ; i. e. the whole Roman empire which 
embraced all the civilized, and many of the barbarous na- 
tions ; and Joseph being of the house of David, went up 
with Mary his espoused wife, to be registered or taxed in 
Bethlehem, the city of David, the place to which his family 
belonged, Luke iii. 1—5. 

11 Q. What provision was made for her there 1 

A. A poor provision indeed : there was no room for them 
in the inn ; she was lodged in a stable, and when she brought 
forth her son she laid him in the manger, Luke ii. 7. 

12 Q. What special notices were given that this child 
] was the Messiah, or Christ, the king of Israel 1 

A. Many notices were given of it by angels and men, by 
Jews and Gentiles. 

13 Q. What notice was given by angels that Christ was 
i born? 

A. An angel appeared to some shepherds by night, and 
{ sent them to find the babe in a manger at Bethlehem, Luke 
i ii. 8—16. 

14 Q. What joy was shown among the angels upon this 
! occasion] 

A. A multitude of the heavenly host praised God, saying, 
Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and good-will 
! towards men : and this the shepherds heard, ver. 13, 14. 

15 Q. What testimonies were given to Jesus Christ in 
i his infancy, by any of the Jews'? 

A. When he was brought to the temple to be circum- 
cised, and presented to the Lord as the first-born, Simeon 
and Anna, two ancient pious persons among the Jews, bore 
witness to him, ver. 25, 28. 

16 Q,. What was the witness which Simeon bore to the 
infant Jesus 1 

A. It was revealed to him that he should not die before he 
had seen the Messiah ; and he took Jesus up in his arms, and 
said, Now, Lord, let thy servant depart in peace, for mine 
eyes have seen thy salvation, verse 26 — 30. 

17 Q. What witness did Anna bear to him ? 
T 



218 THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 

A. She was an aged widow, and a prophetess; she gave 
thanks to the Lord concerning him, and spake of him to all 
that looked for redemption in Jerusalem, ver. 36 — 38. 

18 Q. Who among the Gentiles received notice of the 
birth of Christ? 

A. Some wise men in the east had seen a new star, and 
they had some divine notice that a king of the Jews was 
born, and they came to worship him, Matt. ii. 1, 2.* 

19 Q. How did they find out the house where Jesus 
was? 

A. The star went before them, and stood over the place 
where the infant lay, ver. 9. 

20 Q. What honour did they do him ? 

A. They fell down and worshipped him, and presented 
him gold and spices, ver. 11. 

21 Q. What enemies or dangers did Jesus meet with in 
his infancy? 

A. Herod the Great, who then reigned in Judea, and 
who, according to Josephus the Jewish historian, was a 
monster of wickedness, having heard of the wise men that 
a king of the Jews was born, was filled with jealousy, and 
thought to destroy Jesus, ver. 13. 

22 Q. What means did Herod use to destroy him ? 

A. He slew all the children that were in or near Bethle- 
hem, under two years old, ver. 16. 

23 Q. How did the child Jesus escape ? 

A. Joseph his supposed father, was warned by an angel 
to take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, 
ver. 13. 

24 Q. When did Jesus return into the land of Israel? 

A, When Herod was dead, God sent a message by an an- 
gel in a dream, to command Joseph and Mary to return with 
him; so they returned into Galilee, and dwelt in Nazareth, 
their city, ver. 19 — 23. 

25 ti. Was there any thing further remarkable in the 
childhood of Jesus ? 

A. When he was twelve years old he went up with his 
parents to the passover, according to their custom, but when 
they returned, they missed their son, Luke ii. 41 — 43. 

26 Q. Where did they find him ? 

* Perhaps their expectation was derived from a traditionary know- 
ledge of the prophecy of Balaam, Numbers xxiv. 17, <fce. 



I 



OF JESUS CHRIST. 219 

A. They returned back to Jerusalem, and after three 
days they found him in the temple, in the midst of the doc- 
tors, both hearing them and asking* them questions, ver. 
45,46. 

27 Q. What reason did the child Jesus give for his con- 
duct ! 

A. He told them that they might have supposed he was 
about his father's business ; but he went down with them to 
Nazareth, where he spent the rest of his childhood, and 
was subject to his parents, Luke ii. 49 — 51. 

28 Q. How did Jesus employ his younger years ? 

A. It is reported by the ancients, that he was brought up 
to his father's trade, who was a country carpenter, and that 
he made ploughs, and yokes for oxen ; for Jesus himself is 
called a carpenter, Mark vi. 3. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
Of the public Life and Ministry of Christ 

INTRODUCTION. 

His preparation for his public Work. 

1 Q. At what age did Jesus begin to appear in public ? 
A. At about thirty years of age, Luke iii. 23. 

2 Q. How was he prepared for his public work ? 

A. He was eminently prepared for it by his baptism, by 
the descent of the holy spirit upon him, by his retirement, 
and his temptations, Luke iii and iv. 

3 Q. When was Jesus Christ baptized] 

A. When John the Baptist was sent with a commission 
to baptize men, Jesus offered himself at the river Jordan to 
be baptized, that he might fulfil all righteousness, though 
he had no need to be washed from sin, Matt. iii. 14, 15. 

4 Q. What testimony did he receive from John the Bap- 
tist] 

A. John declared, that Jesus was the lamb of God, luho 
would take away the sins of the world ; and that he himself 
who baptized loiih water, was not worthy to loose the shoes 



220 THE PUBLIC LIFE, &c. OF CHRIST. 

of Jesus, because he was appointed to baptize with the holy 
spirit and with fire, Matt. iii. 11. John i. 29. 

5 Q. What miracle attended his baptism ] 

A. When Jesus came out of the water, the spirit of God 
like a dove descended upon him, and a voice from heaven 
was heard, saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am 
well pleased, Matt. iii. 16, 17. 

6 Q. Whither did he go for his retirement, after he was 
baptized ? 

A. He was led into the wilderness, not only to endure 
temptation and conquer the tempter there, but probably to 
spend forty days in meditation and prayer, and converse with 
God ; as Moses, before his giving the law to Israel, spent 
forty days with God on mount Sinai, Mark i. 12, 13. 

7 Q. Was this the place of his contest with the tempter? 
A. Yes, the devil assaulted him here with three powerful 

temptations, Matt. iv. 1 — 11. 

8 Q. What was the first temptation 1 

A. The devil persuaded him to turn stones into bread, 
because he was an hungred, having fasted forty days. 

9 Q. How did Christ answer him? 

A. By showing him that man doth not live by bread 
alone, but by the power and blessing of God, Deut. viii. 3. 

10 Q. What was the second temptation 1 

A. The devil set him upon a pinnacle of the temple, and 
bid him cast himself down, for there was a promise in Psalm 
xci. 11, that angels should bear him up, so that he should 
receive no hurt. 

11 Q. How did Jesus resist that temptation? 

A. By showing that we must not tempt the providence 
of God any way, Deut. vi. 16, and therefore we must not 
venture upon dangers without necessity. 

12 Q. What was the third temptation ? 

A. The devil promised to give him all the kingdoms of 
this world, if Jesus would fall down and worship him. 

13 Q. How was this temptation vanquished ? 

A. By declaring that God only was to be worshipped, 
Deut. vi. 14, and x. 20. 

14 Q. Whence did Jesus derive his answers to those 
several temptations? 

A. From several texts of scripture which he cited upon 
this occasion, and all out of the book of Deuteronomy. 



JESUS, THE MESSIAH. S21 

Note. " Resist the devil and he will flee from you/' is the exhort- 
ation of James to all Christians : James iv. 7. After the example of 
Christ, the captain of their salvation, let them fight against the evil 
one with " the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God," and 
they shall " come off conquerors," &e. 

15 Q. What token of honour from heaven did Christ re- 
ceive in the wilderness? 

A. When the devil was disappointed and vanquished, and 
departed from him, the angels of God came and ministered 
unto him. 

Sect. I. Jesus Christ 's appearance with the characters of 
the Messiah. 

16 Q. We are now come to the public life and ministry 
of Jesus Christ : let us hear what were the chief parts or 
designs, of it ? 

A. The first design of his public life and ministry was 
to appear in the world with the marks of a divine commis- 
sion, and the characters of the Messiah upon him. 

17 Q. How did Jesus fulfil this first design of his public 
life and ministry ? 

A. He healed the sick, he raised the dead, he preached 
the glad tidings of salvation to the poor, he set about the 
reformation of the world, and all this without noise or up- 
roar ; and he received several testimonies from heaven. — 
[See these characters of the Messiah foretold by the pro- 
phets] Isa. xxxv. 4, 5, and chap. lxi. 1, 2, and lxii. 2. Mai. 
iii. 1, 2, 3, [and exemplified in Christ.] Matt. xi. 3, 5, and 
chap. v. 17, 20; and xii. 19. 

18 Q. But did not Christ preach up his own character as 
the Messiah, or anointed Saviour ] 

A. Though he several times preached that he was sent 
from God, yet he very seldom declared plainly that he was 
the Messiah ; and even forbad the men that knew it, to 
publish it at that time, nor would he suffer the devils to de- 
clare it, Matt. xvi. 20. Mark i. 34. 

19 Q. Why did our Saviour so long abstain from declar- 
ing that he was the Messiah who should come into the 
world 1 

A. Partly that men might learn his office and character 
in a rational way, and infer, that he was the Messiah by his 
doctrine and his w T orks ; and partly that he might not expose 
t2 



222 CHRIST'S PREACHING, 

himself to the rage of his enemies, and to death before his 
time, Luke vii. 19 — 23. 

20 Q. What were some of the testimonies which Christ 
received from heaven in his life 1 ; 

A. Voices from heaven at several times; once at his 
baptism ; which was mentioned before ; once among the 
people, in answer to his prayer; and once on the mount of 
transfiguration, when Moses and Elias came from heaven to 
attend him. 

21 Q. What was that voice which came in answer to his 
prayer 1 ? 

A. When Christ prayed in public that God his father 
would glorify his name ; there was an answer came from 
heaven, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again, John 
xii. 28. 

22 Q. What was the transfiguration ? 

A. Jesus went up into a high mountain with three of his 
disciples, his countenance was changed all glorious, and his 
raiment shining like sun-beams ; Moses and Elias appeared 
and conversed with him, and from a bright cloud broke 
forth a voice, This is my beloved son, hear him, Matt. xvii. 
1—5. 

Sect, II. Of the Subjects of his Preaching, his Parables, 
and his Disputes. 

23 Q. What was the second part and design of his public 
life and ministry'? 

A. To preach and teach many necessary truths and duties 
to the people, Mark i. 38. Isaiah lxi. 1. Luke iv. 18. 

24 Q. In what manner did our Lord Jesus Christ preach 
to the world, and teach mankind ? 

A. He spake several things to them in public sermons or 
discourses, others in free conversation or dispute. Some- 
times he spake in plain language, at other times by way of 
parable or similitude, Matt. v. 2, 3, &c. and chap. xiii. 3. 

25 Q. What were some of the chief subjects of our Sa- 
viour's public preaching? 

A. These that follow, namely, 

1. He explained the law of God in its full latitude as it 
reaches the thoughts, as well as words and actions, and res- 
cued it from the grievous corruptions, the false glosses and 



i 



PARABLES AND DISPUTES. 223 

mistakes of the Jewish teachers; and by this means he 
convinced his hearers of sin, and showed them the need of 
a Saviour, Matt. v. 6, 7; chap. ix. 12, 13. 

2. He taught them the vanity of depending upon any 
outward privileges, as being the children of Abraham ; he 
showed them the danger of putting ceremonies and forms 
of any kind in the room of real and practical godliness ; he 
severely reproved the Scribes and Pharisees on this account; 
and assured men there was no salvation for them, no en- 
trance into heaven, without being born again, or becoming 
new creatures. See John iii. 3 — 8,'; chap. viii. 33 — 41. 
Matt. vii. 24 ; chap. viii. 12, and xxiii. 13—-33. 

3. He corrected several sinful customs and practices with 
other foolish traditions among the people, and reproved the 
teachers of the law for mingling their traditions and the 
inventions of men with the pure appointments of God, 
Mark vii. 1, 13. John ii. 13, 17. Matt. v. vi. vii. 

4. He called the people aloud to repentance of every sin, 
because the kingdom of the gospel was at hand. See Matt, 
vi. 17. Luke v. 32. 

5. He gave particular directions for the practice of many 
duties, namely, spiritual worship, prayer, dependence upon 
God, hearing the word, giving alms, loving our neighbours, 
forgiving our enemies, &c. Matt. chap. v. vi. vii. and xiiL 

6. He preached the gospel, or the glad tidings of pardon- 
ing grace, to sinners who repented of their sins and be- 
lieved in him ; he promised the influence of the Holy Spirit 
to them that asked it of God. He represented himself as 
sent of God, and invited all men to come to him, and trust 
in him, that they might be saved. Luke iv. 18, 21, 22, and 
xi. 9 — 13. Matt. v. 3—12 ; chap. vii. 7, &c. and chap. xi. 
28. John v. vi. vii. and viii. 

7. He revealed the things of the future and invisible 
world, the resurrection and the day of judgment, heaven 
and hell, beyond what the world had ever known before, 2 
Tim. i. 10. Matt. v. 8— -12, and chapters xiii. and xxv, &c. 

8. He often foretold that the Jews would reject him and 
his gospel, and should be terribly punished for it ; and he 
declared that the Gentiles would receive his gospel, and 
said many things to prepare the way of the Gentiles into 

, the church or kingdom of the Messiah, because the Jews 
I had such violent prejudices against their admission into it, 



224 CHRIST'S PREACHING, 

Matt. viii. 12, and chap. xx. xxi. Luke xv. Matt. xx. 40, 
41, and chap, xxiii. 38. 

9. He several times foretold his own death, his resur- 
rection, and his future glory, and his coming to raise the 
dead and to judge the world, Matt. xxi. xxi v. and xxv. John 
v. 27—29; chap. xii. 23—34. Matt. xii. 40. 

26 Q. Did Jesus Christ foretell all these things plainly 
and openly? 

A. What he spake by way of prophecy, in private to his 
disciples, he spake plainly; but what he spake of this kind 
in public to the multitude, w T as often (though not always) 
delivered in parables and similitudes, Mark ix. 11, 32, 34. 
Matt. xx. 18—28. 

27 Q. But did not Christ teach the great and glorious 
doctrine of his own death as a sacrifice or ransom for sinful 
men, in the course of his public ministry. 

A. He taught this privately to his disciples, to whom he 
spake more freely of his death and resurrection toward the 
end of his life, Matt. xvi. 16 — 22. But, as for wise reasons 
he did not preach publicly and plainly to the people of his 
own death or his resurrection, so he scarcely ever preached 
in public, and in plain language, those great doctrines of 
Christianity that depend upon his death or his resurrection. 
These things were wisely reserved for the ministry of his 
apostles, after he was actually dead and risen, and ascended 
to heaven, and had poured out on them the promised spirit, 
Matt. x. 27, and Luke xxiv. 45 — 49. 

28 Q. What w T ere some of the most remarkable among 
the parables of Jesus Christ. 

A. The parable of the sower and the seed ; of the tares 
in the field ; of the merciless servant ; of the good Samari- 
tan ; of the labourers in the vineyard ; of the wicked hus- 
bandmen ; of the ten virgins ; of the improvement of talents; 
of the prodigal son ; of the rich man and Lazarus the beg- 
gar. 

29 Q. What is the parable of the soiuer and the seed? 
A. As the seed that is sown, falling on different sorts of 

ground, brings forth more or less fruit? or no fruit at all ; 
so when ministers preach the gospel, the word becomes 
more or less fruitful, or unfruitful, according to the good or 
evil hearts of the hearers, Matt. xiii. 1 — 23. 

30 Q. What is the parable of the tares in the field ? 



PARABLES AND DISPUTES. , 225 

A. As the enemy had sowed tares where the husband- 
men had sowed wheat, and they were both suffered to grow 
together till the harvest, then the wheat was gathered into 
the barn, and the tares were burnt ; so the devil mingles his 
children with the children of God in this world, but at the 
day of Judgment they shall be separated ; the children of 
the devil shall be cast into a furnace of fire, and the children 
of God shall shine in the kingdom of their father, Matt. xiii. 
24—43. 

31 Q. What means the parable of the merciless servant ? 
A. Though his Lord forgave him ten thousand talents, 

yet he dealt cruelly with his fellow-servant, who owed him 
but an hundred pence, and cast him in prison till he should 
pay it. When the Lord heard of it, he reproved and im- 
prisoned him till the payment of his debt ; and thus the 
great God, who is ready to forgive us our innumerable sins, 
will deal with us, if we forgive not our brethren their 
offences against us, Matt, xviii. 21 — 35. 

32 Q. What parable is that which is called the good 
Samaritan ? 

A. When a Jew was abused and stripped, and wounded 
by robbers, and left helpless, a priest and a Levite passed by 
and neglected him, but a Samaritan took care of him, and 
carried him to an inn for his recovery. This Jesus spake 
to show, that no differences of opinion should hinder us 
from actions of common humanity towards other men, Luke 
x. 30, 36, that we should " do good unto all men." 

33 Q. What is the design of the parable of the labourers 
in the vineyard ? 

A. The labourers who were called at the eleventh hour, 
through the great goodness of the master, received the 
same reward as those who were called in at the first hour ; 
even so the Gentiles should be called into the church in the 
latter days, and enjoy equal privileges with the Jews, who 
had been called many ages before them, Matt. xx. 1 — 16. 

34 Q. What is the parable of the icicked husbandmen? 
A. The owner of a vineyard let it out to husbandmen, 

and going into a far country, first sent his servants, and at 
last his son, to receive the fruits ; but they beat and slew 
both the servants and the son. Upon which, at the return 
of the owner, these husbandmen were destroyed, and the 
vineyard let out to others. By which our Saviour designed 



226 CHRIST'S PREACHING, 

to show how the Jews brought no fruit to God, notwith- 
standing all their advantages ; that they abused his prophets, 
and would slay his son ; that God would turn them out of his 
church, and give his gospel to the Gentiles, Matt. xxi. 33 — 43. 

35 Q. What is the parable of the ten virgins ? 

A. Some of these virgins were wise, and some were 
foolish ; but they all slept while the bridegroom tarried, and 
at midnight when the bridegroom came, even the wise were 
something unprepared, but the foolish were shut out from 
the wedding : whence our Saviour draws this advice, 
Watch ye, for ye know not the day or hour when the son of 
man cometh, Matt. xxv. 1 — 13. 

36 Q. What is the parable of the talents 1 

A. Those servants who were intrusted with several 
talents, and had improved them, were rewarded in proportion 
to their improvement ; but he who laid up his talent in a 
napkin, and made no improvement of it, was cast into outer 
darkness as an unprofitable servant. The plain design of 
this parable is to show the necessity of diligence in the im- 
provement of all our mercies and advantages, Matt. xxv. 
14—30. Luke xix. 12—27. 

37 Q. What is the parable of the prodigal son ? 

A. The younger son of a family grew prodigal, and wasted 
his estate in rioting abroad, while the elder son lived at 
home, and served his father ; but upon the return of the 
prodigal, and his repentance, his father received him with 
much compassion and joy ; at which his elder brother was 
angry. So shall the mercy of God be shown to repenting 
Gentiles, when they shall forsake their sins, and return to 
God, though the Jews will be envious and quarrel with this 
conduct of Providence, Luke xv. 11 — 32. 
• 38 Q. What was the parable of the rich man and Lazarus ? 

A. The rich man, who spent his days in luxury, and was 
cruel to the poor, died, and went to hell : but Lazarus, a 
beggar, was religious, and went to heaven. The rich man, 
in his torments, would fain have Lazarus sent to warn his 
kindred of their danger. But Abraham tells him, that if 
they will not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they 
be persuaded to leave their sins, though one rose from the 
dead, Luke xvi. 19, 31. 

39 Q. How could the hearers of Christ understand these 
parables 1 



PARABLES AND DISPUTES. 227 

A. There were many of them which they did not under- 
stand: but when they were retired from the multitude, 
Christ expounded the parables to his disciples, Mark iv. 9 — 
12, 34. 

Note. The humble and docile would learn much which no mere 
strength of mind could understand! Hence the parables were touch- 
stones to try the spirits of men, to separate the precious from the vile, 
the wheat from the chaff* " If any man will do the will of God, he 
shall know of the doctrine," saith Jesus. 

40 Q. Besides these public sermons and parables, had not 
Jesus Christ some conversation and disputes with several 
sorts of persons ? 

A. Yes, he had some discourses with the multitude, and 
with his own disciples, which would be too long to repeat ; 
and besides these, he had also some debates with Nicode- 
mus, with the woman of Samaria, with the Herodians, with 
the Sadducees, with the Pharisees and doctors of the law, 
with the ruler of the synagogue, and the chief priest and 
elders of the people. 

41 Q. What was his discourse with Nicodemus 1 

A. He taught Nicodemus, who came to him by night, 
that a man must be born again; that is, he must have his 
old sinful nature renewed into holiness, if he would see the 
kingdom of God ; and that God sent his only begotten Son 
to save as many as would believe on him, John iii. 1, 21. 

42 Q. What was our Lord's discourse with the woman 
of Samaria? 

A. He told her of her living in the sin of fornication ; and 
assured her the time was just at hand when God would not 
regard persons ever the more on account of the places in 
which they worshipped him, whether it were at the temple 
of Jerusalem or Samaria ; but on the account of the spiri- 
tual worship which they paid him from their hearts ; and he 
let her know plainly that he was the Messiah, John iv. 7 — 
26. 

43 Q. What discourse had Christ with the Herodians 1 
A. They inquired of him, whether it was lawful to give 

tribute to Caesar 1 that, if he denied it, they might accuse 
him to the Romans ; if he asserted it, they might render him 
odious to the Jews, and particularly to the Pharisees, of 
whom a number was craftily sent with the Herodians ; but 
Jesus gave them a very wise answer, and avoided their 



228 THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 

snares, by bidding them render to Caesar the things that are 
Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's, Matt, 
xxii. 15—22. 

44 Q. What dispute had Christ with the Sadducees 1 

A. The Sadducees thought to ridicule him about the doc- 
trine of the resurrection, by inquiring, to which of her seven 
husbands a wife would belong in that day] But, as he 
proved the resurrection to them from the law of Moses, so 
he assured them that there was no such relation as marriage 
in that state, Matt. xxii. 23 — 33.* 

45 Q. What disputes did our Saviour hold with the Pha- 
risees, and the Scribes, and the teachers of the law. 

A. He had many disputes with them about their excessive 
fondness for ceremonies and traditions, wherein he showed 
that they made void the law of God by their own invented 
traditions ; and that the duties of morality, righteousness, 
and goodness, were more valuable even than the ceremonies 
of God's own appointment, and are to be preferred where 
they may happen to interfere. For God will have mercy, 
and not sacrifice, Matt. xv. 2 — 20, chap, xxiii. and xii. 1, 7. 

46 Q. What was his debate with the ruler of the syna- 
gogue and other Jews. 

A. About his healing diseased persons on the sabbath- 
day, at which they cavilled ; but he proved to them, that it 
was a very lawful thing, even from the care that God took 
of cattle on the sabbath-day in the law of Moses, Luke xiii. 
14-17. 

47 Q. What controversy had Christ with the chief priest 
and elders of the people 1 

A. About his own authority for preaching, wherein he 
silenced them, by inquiring of them, what authority had 
John the Baptist \ whom all the people had esteemed a pro- 
phet, Matt. xxi. 23-— 27. 

Sect. III. — The Miracles of Christ. 

48 Q. Thus we have finished the two first designs of the 
public life and ministry of Christ, namely, his appearing with 
the character of the Messiah upon him, and his teaching the 

* He reasoned with the Sadducees from the Pentateuch, because 
they did not acknowledge the other books of scripture. 



THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 229 

people. What is the third considerable design of his public 
life and ministry? 

A. To work miracles for the confirmation of his doctrine, 
and for the proof of his being sent from God to be the Sa- 
viour of the world. 

49 Q. What were some of the chief of the miracles which 
our Saviour wrought for this purpose ? 

A. These that follow ; 

1. He turned six vessels full of water into excellent wine, 
John ii. 7 — 11. 

2. He fed five thousand persons once with five loaves and 
two fishes; and again he fed four thousand with seven 
loaves and a few little fishes, and at both times there were 
several baskets of fragments, Matt. xiv. and xv. 

3. He gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech 
to the dumb, strength and vigour to the lame and withered 
limbs, Mark viii. John ix. Mark vii. Matt. xx. John v. 

4. He healed the leprosy, the fever, the palsy, the dropsy, 
and other distempers, by a word of command, Matt. viii. and 

i ix. Mark i. Luke xiv. 

5. He walked on the water, and suppressed a storm at 
sea by a reproof given to the seas and winds, Matt. xiv. 25, 
and chap. viii. 29. 

6. He delivered several persons from the possession of 
the devil, by rebuking the evil spirits, and commanding them 
to depart, Luke iv. Matt. viii. Mark i. 

7. He raised a few persons from the dead, namely, the 
ruler's daughter in the chamber, the widow's son in the 
street, as he was carried to his burial, and Lazarus was 
called out of his grave, when he had been dead four days, 
Mark ix. Luke vii. John xi. 

50 Q. What is there remarkable in these miracles of our 
Saviour 1 

A. These Jive things: 

1. That almost every wondrous work performed by Christ 
was a work of love and goodness, whereas many of the 
wonders of Moses and the prophets were works of destruc- 
tion. 

2. His miracles were very numerous, so that mankind 
could not be mistaken in all of them, though they should 
object against some. 

3 They were wrought in many places of the Jewish na- 



230 THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST. 



A& 



tion, and several of them before the eyes of the multitude* 
who could attest them. 

4. They were such miracles as were foretold should be 
wrought in the days of the Messiah ; and therefore he con- 
tinually appeals to his miraculous works for a testimony of 
his commission from God, John x. 37, 38, chap. xv. 24, and 
xiv. 11. 

5. They were wrought in his own name and power ; and 
in this respect differed from those of the prophets who so 
did their wonderful works as to show their dependence on 
God. 

Sect. IV. — The example of Christ, 

51 Q. Let us proceed now and inquire, What was the 
fourth thing designed in the public life and ministry of 
Christ] 

A. To give an example to the world of universal holiness 
and goodness, John xii. 35, 36. 1 Cor. xi. 1 Rom. xv. 5. 

52 Q. What were some of the more remarkable virtues, 
graces, or duties, wherein Christ appears to be our example 1 

A. 1. He sought the public glory of God with the warm- 
est zeal, and vindicated the honour of his father's appoint- 
ment against the corruptions of men, John viii. 50, chap, 
xvii. 4, and ii. 16, 17. Matt, xxiii. 

2. He was strictly observant of all the commands of God, 
even the ceremonial as well as the moral. He observed 
the sabbath, he came up to feast at Jerusalem, he desired 
to be baptized ; he came to fulfil the law of God, and made 
it his meat and his drink, Matt. iii. 15, and v. 17. John xiv. 
31, chap. iv. 34, and vii. 10. 

3. He was frequent and fervent in religious exercises, 
prayers, and praise, Luke vi. 12, and xi. 1, 2. Matt. xiv. 23, 
and xi. 25. 

4. He was eminent for heavenly-mindedness, self-denial 
as to the comforts of this Jife, and trust in God for his daily 
bread. He was so poor, that the good women ministered to 
him out of their substance, and he had not where to lay his 
head, Luke ix. 58, and viii. 3. 

5. He bore sorrows from the hand of God with the high- 
est submission, and the vilest injuries from men with per- 
fect patience and meekness ; not returning railing for rail- 






CHRIST'S CALLING i;HE APOSTLES, &c. 231 

ing, but blessing those that persecuted him, 1 Pet. ii. 21, 
23, Matt. xi. 29. Luke xxii. 42, and xxiii. 34. 

6. He gave the most glorious instances of good-will to 
men, compassion to the miserable, and love to friends, to 
strangers, and to enemies. He often had pity on the mul- 
titudes that followed him ; he travelled about, and took all 
occasions to do good to the bodies and the souls of men ; to 
their bodies by his healing and feeding them ; and to their 
souls, by his preaching and conversation; and at last he 
laid down his life for sinners, Acts x. 38. Matt. ix. 36, and 
xiv. 14. John xv. 13. Rom. v. 6, 8, 10. 

7. He was obedient to his parents, paying them honour ; 
and obedient to magistrates, paying tax and tribute, Luke 
ii. 51. Matt. xvii. 24, &c. 

8. He was humble and familiar with the poor, and even 
with publicans and sinners for their good, Matt. xi. 29, and 
ix. 11. He washed the feet of his own disciples, John xiii. 
14. 

9. He was steadfast in resisting the temptations of the 
devil, and opposing the iniquities of men, Matt. iv. 1 — 11. 
Heb. ii. 18, and chap. xii. 1, 2. Matt, xxiii. John ii. 13, &c. 

10. He was prudent and watchful against the snares of 
his enemies, and careful to give them no just occasions 
against him : this appears in the wisdom of his discourses, 
and his daily conduct, John vii. 1, and xi. 54. Matt. xvii. 27. 

Sect. V. — His calling the Apostles, and instructing them. 

53 Q. What was the fifth part of the business and design 
of his public ministry 1 

A. To call his apostles, and instruct them in their great 
commission of preaching the gospel. 

54 Q. How many preachers did our Saviour send forth 1 
A. He first sent twelve, who were called apostles, whom 

I he designed to make his chief ministers ; and he afterwards 
sent seventy (disciples) through the land of Israel on the 
same errand of preaching the gospel, Matt. x. 1. Luke vi. 
13, and chap. x. 1. 

55 Q. What was the commission that Christ gave them 
all? 

A. To preach the gospel, to heal the sick, and to cast out 
devils, Matt. x. 1 — 8. Luke x. 9, 17. 



232 CHRIST'S CALLING THE APOSTLES, &c. 

56 Q. What were the names of the twelve apostles] 

A. Simon Peter, and Andrew his brother, who were 
fishermen ; James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were 
also fishers; Philip, and Bartholomew;* Thomas, and Mat- 
thew the publican, who is also called Levi ; James the son 
of Alpheus, who is called the Lord's brother; and Jude the 
brother of James, who is called Lebbeus, and Thaddeus ; 
Simon the Canaanite, who is called Zelotes;f and Judas 
Iscariot, who afterwards betrayed his master, Matt. x. 2, 4. 
Luke vi. 14—16. Gal. i. 19. 

57 Q. Had these messengers of Christ success in their 
work 1 

A. Yes, they had some success ; for the seventy returned 
with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us 
through thy name, Luke x. 17. 

58 Q. How did he train up his twelve apostles for their 
future service ] 

A. They were very frequently attending upon him, and 
dwelt much with him, before and after their first mission 
abroad; so that they enjoyed his private instructions, his 
prayers, and his example, continually, Matt. x. 27. Luke 
xi. 1. Mark iv. 34. 

59 Q. What peculiar instructions did he give his apostles'? 
A. 1. He explained the parables to them at home, which 

he spake to the people, and acquainted them in private 
what they should preach in public, Matt. x.27. Mark iv. 34. 

2. He foretold they must expect difficulties and persecu- 
tions ; but he promised the aids of his Spirit and his own 
presence with them, and a large reward in heaven, Matt. x. 
16—33, and xxviii. 20. 

3. He charged them to love all men, and peculiarly to 
love one another; and not to affect dominion and authority 
over one another, so particularly, as if he designed to pre- 
clude the popish error of St. Peter being made the prince 
of the apostles, John xiii. 34, 35. Matt. xx. 25. 

4. If any house welcomed and received them, they were 
ordered to pronounce the blessing of peace upon that house ; 

* Some suppose Bartholomew to be the same with Nathaniel. 

t Simon was not a Canaanite by nation, for the apostles were all 
Jews : some therefore think it is only the Hebrew or Syriac word 
Cana, which signifies a zealot, with a Greek termination added : — or 
perhaps so called from being a native of Cana in Galilee. 



THE TWO SACRAMENTS. 283 

but when any town refused to receive their message, they 
were commanded to shake off the dust of their feet as a tes- 
timony against them, Matt. x. 11, 15. Luke ix. 54, 55. 

5. He told them that he was the Messiah, and that he 
came to give his life a ransom for men ; that he should be 
crucified and put to death at Jerusalem ; and that he should 
rise again the third day, Matt. xvi. 16 — 22, and xx. 28. 

6. He prayed with them often, and taught them how to 
pray both in their younger and their more advanced state 
of knowledge, Luke xi. 1, &c. John xvi. 23, 24. 

7. He gave them many admirable discourses before his 
death : he foretold the destruction of Jerusalem ; and in- 
dulged their presence with him in his most excellent prayer 
to God just before his sufferings. See Matt. xxiv. John 
xiv. xv. xvi. and xvii. 

8. He ordered them after his death to tarry at Jerusalem, 
till they should receive the promised Spirit to fit them for 
their further service, Luke xxiv. 49. 

60 Q. Were there any of these apostles that seemed to 
be his favourites? 

A. If there were any, they were Peter, James, and John, 
for they were admitted to be present in the room when he 
raised the ruler's daughter ; and in the holy mount when 
he was transfigured ; and in the garden, when he sustained 
his agony; beside, that John was called the beloved disciple, 
and leaned on Jesus's bosom at the holy supper, Mark v. 37, 
38. Matt. xvii. 1, and xxvl 37. John xiii. 33. 



Sect. VI. — His appointment or institution of the Two 
Sacraments, 

61 Q. What is the last part of the public ministry of 
\ Christ? 

A. His appointment of the two sensible ordinances, which 
a , are called sacraments, namely, baptism and the Lord's sup- 
I per. 

\ 62 Q. When did he appoint baptism ? 
I A. It is supposed that he confirmed and practised the 
I baptism of John in his life-time, that is, the baptism of re- 
\ pentance for the remission of sins ; but doubtless with this 
! constant requirement, that they should believe on hirn as a 

u 2 



234 THE TWO SACRAMENTS. 

prophet sent from God. See Matt. iii. 11. Acts xix. 4. Matt, 
iv. 17. John iv. 1. 

ft may justly be doubted, whether our Saviour always from the 
beginning required the belief and profession of him to be the Messiah, 
as a necessary thing in order to become one of his disciples, and to 
receive his baptism, in those early days ; since he studiously avoided 
the preaching up his own character as the Messiah, and concealed it 
from the public notice, Matt. xvi. 20. But after his resurrection, and 
new instituted form of baptism, none were to be baptized but those 
who professed Jesus to be the Christ, or the Messiah. 

63 Q. Did he make any alteration in the form of baptism 
afterwards ? 

A. After his resurrection, just before his ascension to 
heaven, he bid his disciples, Go teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost, Matt, xxviii. 19. 

64 Q. When did he appoint the Lord's Supper ? 

A. The same night in which he was betrayed, which was 
just after the feast of the passover, and a few hours before 
his death, 1 Cor. xi. 23. 

65 Q. How did Christ appoint this ordinance to be per- 
formed 1 

A. Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave 
it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body which 
is broken for you. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, 
and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is 
my blood of the Neio Testament which is shed for many for 
the remission of sins ; then he said, This do in remem- 
brance of me; and afterwards he sung a hymn, Matt. xxvi. 
26. 1 Cor. xi. 24, 

66 Q. Do these ordinances of the gospel come in the room 
of any of the ceremonies of the Jewish law ? 

A. It has been generally supposed that baptism comes in 
the room of circumcision, and the Lord's supper in the room 
of the passover; but the proof of this does not belong to this 
place. 

67 Q. How long is the ordinance of baptism to continue? 

A. Till the end of the world; for our Saviour, upon giv- 
ing his apostles and ministers commission to teach and bap- 
tize, promises to be with them to the end of the world, Matt, 
xxviii. 20. 



REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES, <&c. 236 

68 Q. How long is the ordinance of the supper to con- 
tinue 1 

A. He not only bid them do this in remembrance of him ; 
but St. P&ul saith, Hereby ye show forth the Lord's death 
till he come ; that is, till Christ come to judge the world, 
3 Cor. xi. 24—26. 

Sect. VII. — Remarkable Occurrences in the Life of Christ 

69 Q. What other remarkable occurrences are recorded 
in the life of Christ, besides those that have been mentioned? 

A. These that follow, namely, 

\ When Jesus Christ healed the servant of the centurion 
at Capernaum, he only sent a message of healing by his 
master, without going near him himself; to show that he 
had power over diseases at a distance, and could command 
them to depart, Matt. viii. 1 — 13. 

2. When he cast many devils out of the man of Gadara, 
who lived among the tombs, the devils asked leave to enter 
into a herd of swine ; and when Jesus permitted them, they 
drove the herd of swine down a steep place upon the sea, 
and drowned them ; upon which the people desired Christ 
to depart out of their coasts, Mark v. 1 — 17. 

3. When Jesus healed the man of the palsy at Nazareth, 
his own city, he forgave his sins, and then cured his distem- 
per, as a proof of his power to forgive sin, Matt. ix. 1 — 8. 

4. When the woman came to be cured of her bleeding, 
with a strong belief of his power and mercy, she only 
touched the hem of his garment, and Jesus pronounced that 
her faith had made her whole, Matt. ix. 20 — 22. 

5. He went through a corn-field with his disciples on the 
sabbath, and defended them in their plucking of ears of corn, 
and rubbing, and eating, from the accusation of the Phari- 
sees, who pretended this was a breach of the sabbath, Matt, 
xii. 1—8. 

6. When the Jews demanded a sign of him, he refused 
to give them any but the sign of the prophet Jonah, that as 
Jonah was three days and nights in the whale's belly, so the 
Son of man should be three days and nights in the grave, 
Matt. xii. 38—40. 

7. When he was told that his mother and his brethren 
stood without and wanted to speak with him, he took occa- 



236 REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES 

sion to say, that whosoever should do the will of his Father, 
were indeed his nearest relations, his brother, his sister, and 
his mother, Matt. xii. 46 — 50. 

8. Though he wrought many miracles in his life, yet he 
wrought but few of them in his own country, because they 
despised him as the son of a carpenter, and would not believe 
in him, Matt. xiii. 55 — 58. 

9. When Jesus walked upon the water towards his dis- 
ciples in a storm, he called Peter out of the ship to walk 
upon the water too, and reproved him for his fearfulness 
and unbelief when he began to sink, Matt. xiv. 24 — 32. 

10. He commended Peter for his confession of him as the 
son of the living God, and promised to build his church upon 
this rock, this confession of Peter. But presently after, he 
told his disciples of his, sufferings and death, and reproved 
Peter severely for wishing that Christ might not suffer and 
die, Matt. xvi. 16—23. 

11. When tribute money was required of him at Caper- 
naum, he sent Peter to catch a fish, and told him he should 
find money in the mouth of it, which he did, and paid it to 
those that gathered the tax, Matt. xvii. 24 — 27. 

12. When little children were brought to him that he 
should touch them, his disciples rebuked those that brought 
them : but Jesus took them in his arms, and blessed them, 
and said, of such is the kingdom of God, Mark x. 13 — 16. 

13. When a rich young man inquired of him what he 
should do to obtain eternal life? He tried him by saying, 
keep the commandments, or do this and live ; for the man 
that doeth them shall live by them ; as Rom. x. 5. But 
when the young man was so confident of his own righteous- 
ness, and so little sensible of his imperfections, as to reply, 
All these have I kept from my youth ; what do Hack more? 
Our Lord then put him to a farther trial, bid him sell what 
estate he had, give to the poor, and follow him as one of his 
disciples. At this the young man went away sorrowful, 
because he had great possessions : whence Jesus took oc- 
casion to say, It was hard for a rich man to enter into the 
kingdom of heaven, Matt. xix. 16 — 24. 

14. When James and John desired to be made chief in 
his kingdom, and to sit on his right hand and on his left, 
Jesus took occasion to suppress this ambition amongst all his 
disciples, and said, whoever will be chief among you, let 



IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 237 

him be your servant, as the Son of man came not to be 
served, but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many, 
Matt. xx. 20—28. 

15. As he was travelling from Galilee to Jerusalem, Sa- 
maria lay in his way, and when the Samaritans would not 
receive him, some of his disciples would have called for lire 
from heaven upon them, as Elias did ; but he severely re- 
proved them, saying they knew not what manner of spirit 
they were of; for the Son of man came to save men's lives, 
and not to destroy them, Luke ix. 51 — 56. 

16. When our Saviour was entertained at Bethany, he 
gently reproved Martha for being too much cumbered with 
care to entertain and feast him, and commended her sister 
Mary, who sat at Jesus's feet and heard his words : Mary 
hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away 
from her, Luke x. 38~-42. 

17. When Je3us raised Lazarus from the dead, he we^t 
to the grave in company with Martha and Mary, his two 
sisters, and several Jews. He bid them take away the stone 
from the mouth of the cave, and prayed to his Father, and 
then commanded Lazarus to come forth, who had been dead 
four days ; and Lazarus obeyed him, and came forth, John 
xi. 

18. The Jews used to travel on foot from place to place, 
yet when he went up to the last feast at Jerusalem, he rode 
into the city upon the colt of an ass, that the prophecy of 
Zechariah might be fulfilled, Zech. ix. 9, and a great multi- 
tude attended him as in triumph, crying, Hosannah to the 
son of David ; so that the children learned the song, and re- 
peated it in the temple, Matt. xxi. 1 — 6. 

19. When he found in the temple those that sold oxen, 
and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money, he made 
a scourge of small cords, and drove them all out of the tem- 
ple, and overthrew the tables, with the money on them ; and 
said, It is ivrittcn, my house shall be called the house of 
prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he went 
out of the city, and lodged that night at Bethany, Matt. xxi. 
12, 13, 17. 

20. When he returned from Bethany, the next morning, 
he cursed a fig-tree that had only leaves and no fruit on it, 
to show the doom of fruitless professors of religion ; and pre- 
sently the fig-tree withered away. This is said to be the 



238 REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES, &c. 

only miracle of destruction that Jesus wrought, for all the 
rest were miracles of goodness, Matt. xxi. 17—20. 

Conclusion of this Chapter, 

70 Q. After we have heard this brief account of the 
transaction's of the life of Christ, tell me what was the sum 
of that religion which Christ taught during his life. 

A. It consisted chiefly in these few articles : 

1. He confirmed the doctrine of the one true God, and 
the revelation of his mind and will to men, by Moses and the 
prophets. 

2. He explained the moral law, and enforced the observ- 
ance of it for ever ; and summed it up in short in two great 
commandments, namely, Love God with all your heart, and 
love your neighbour as yourself, Matt. v. 18, 19, 20. 

3. He continued the observance of the ceremonial law 
for the present, that is, whensoever it did not interfere with 
the duties of the moral law ; but where it did interfere, he 
taught that the moral law was always to be preferred. 

4. He required repentance for sin, and faith in himself, 
as the great prophet who came to reveal the grace of God 
to men, both for the pardon of sin, and eternal life. 

5. He appointed the profession of his religion to be made 
by baptism, to denote the washing away our sins, and our 
being renewed to holiness by the spirit of God. 

6. Just before his sufferings and death, he appointed the 
feast of the Lord's Supper, as a constant memorial of his dy- 
ing for the sins of men, and oiir partaking of the benefits 
thereof, Matt. xxvi. 17— -31. 1 Cor. xi. 23—26. 

Note. This dispensation during the life of Christ, was a medium 
between the Jewish and Christian dispensation ; or rather the Mosai- 
cal economy continued till the atonement was completed on the cross, 
Heb. x, 



THE SUFFERINGS, &c. OF CHRIST. 239 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Of the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ 
Sect. I. — Of his Sufferings, Death, and Burial. 

1 Q. When Jesus had instituted his holy supper, where 
did he go 1 

A. He knew that the hour of his suffering was at hand, 
and he went with his disciples into a neighbouring garden 
in Gethsemane, where he sustained great and grievous ago- 
nies and sorrows in his soul, Matt. xxvi. 38, 46. 

2 Q. How did it appear thas his anguish was so great 1 
A. It is written of him, that he began to be sore amazed 

and very heavy, or overburdened. He told his disciples, that 
his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; and 
under this agony or sharp conflict, his sweat was like great 
drops of blood falling down to the ground, Mark xiv. 33, 34. 
Luke xxii. 44. 

3 Q. What was the cause of these sorrows and agonies 1 
A. They could not arise merely from the fears of death, 

or being nailed to a cross ; for then he would not have been 
a fit example of courage and patience to his disciples and 
followers, some of whom have suffered the same death of the 
cross, without such overwhelming terrors and fears as Christ 
discovered. It has been generally supposed, therefore, and 
with very good reason, that these agonies of his soul arose 
from a sense of the anger of God for the sins of men, some 
way manifested to him ; perhaps also increased by the temp- 
tations of evil angels, for it pleased God to bruise him and 
make his soul an offering for sin, Luke xxii. 53. Isa. liii. 
6, 10. And it is evident, the powers of darkness were let 
loose upon him, Luke xxii. 53. John xiv. 30. 

4 Q. What did Jesus do in these agonies 1 

A. He prayed three times earnestly, that if possible this 
hour might pass from him ; his innocent human nature 
shrunk from such sharp and smarting sorrows ; yet he sub- 
mitted himself to the wisdom and will of his Father, Mark 
xiv. 35, 36. 

5 Q. What assistance had he to support him under this 
agony? 



240 iTHE SUFFERINGS, DEATH, 

A. There appeared an angel from heaven, encouraging 
and strengthening him, ver. 43. 

6 Q. Where were his disciples at this time 1 

A. He had withdrawn to a little distance from the rest of 
his disciples ; but Peter, James, and John were nearest to 
him, Mark xiv. 32, 33, yet they could not help him, and in- 
deed they fell asleep part of the time, ver. 37. 

7 Q. Was Judas the traitor with the rest of the disciples 
in the garden 1 

A. Judas had privately departed from them just after the 
passover, and having agreed with the chief priests and elders 
for thirty pieces of silver, to betray him into the hands of 
their officers, he was now at hand with a band of men, with 
weapons and torches, to accomplish his design, and betray 
his master, Mark xiv. 43. Matt. xxvi. 14 — 16. 

8 Q. How came the rulers of the Jews to be so much of- 
fended with Christ, as to seek to destroy him 1 

A. For several reasons, namely, 

1. Because, he being a poor man in Israel, and the sup- 
posed son of a carpenter, owned himself to be the Messiah ; 
whom they expected to be an earthly king, and to deliver 
them from the subjection of the Romans. 

2. Because in his sermons, and in his whole conduct, he 
endeavoured to reform those corruptions which the priests 
and teachers, and rulers of the Jews, had brought into their 
religion. 

3. He had foretold the anger of God against them and 
their nation, in some of his parables, pretty plainly, for their 
great sins, and for their rejection of his ministry. 

4. They envied him, because many of the people followed 
him. 

9 Q. How did Judas give notice to the officers which was 
Jesus ] 

A. He gave them a sign, that he would kiss him ; and 
accordingly, when he came to him, he said, Hail, Master ! 
and kissed him, Matt. xxvi. 48, 49. 

10 Q. Was there any resistance made for the relief of 
Christ? 

A. Simon Peter cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest's 
servant ; but Jesus bid him put up his sword, and he healed 
the man's ear with a touch, Luke xxii. 50* 51. John xviii. 
10. 



AND BURIAL OF CHRIST. 241 

11 Q. Did Christ show any further instance of his divine 
power on this occasion 1 

A. When they asked for Jesus, he answered, / am he ; 
and they went backward, and fell to the ground, John xviii. 
5, 6. 

12 Q. Did they yet, after this, persist to lay hands on him] 
A. Yes, they took him and carried him away to Caiaphas, 

the high priest's house, where the scribes and elders were 
assembled, Matt. xxvi. 57. 

13 Q. What became of his disciples'? 

A. They all forsook him and fled, as Christ foretold they 
would do, Matt. xxvi. 31, 56. 

14 Q. What did Peter do, who particularly boasted of 
his love and courage 1 

A. Peter followed him afar off, into the high priest's hall, 
but there, for fear of suffering, he shamefully denied his 
Lord and master thrice, and that with swearing and cursing, 
Mark xiv. 70—72. 

15 Q. How was Peter brought to conviction and repent- 
ance for this sin ? 

A. When Jesus heard Peter a little before, boasting of 
his zeal and courage, he foretold him, that he should deny 
him thrice before the cock crowed twice ; and when Peter 
heard the cock crow, Jesus, standing now before the high 
priest, turned and looked upon him ; and his heart melted 
within him ; and he went out and wept bitterly, Mark xiv, 
72. Luke xxii. 61, 62. 

16 Q. What accusation did they bring against Christ 1 
A. Several false witnesses accused him about words that 

he spake ; but they agreed not together, and therefore they 
could not find sufficient cause to condemn him, though they 
sought it earnestly, Mark xiv. 56. 

17 Q. How did they condemn him at last? 

A. The high priest asked him, Art thou the Christ, the 
Son of God ? And Jesus said, J am, and ye shall see the 
Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming 
in the clouds of heaven. Whereupon they condemned him 
as worthy of death for blasphemy, Mark xiv. 61, 64. 

Note. The Jews condemned Jesus for blasphemy, because he 
made himself God. They therefore who deny the Saviour's divinity, 
must justify the Jews in putting him to death, because the law com- 
manded to put the blasphemer to death, Lev. xxiv. 16. John xix. 7 

i X 



242 THE SUFFERINGS, DEATH, 

18 Q. Did they put him to death immediately 7 

A. The" Jews being under the government of the Romans, 
had not the full power of life and death in their own hands; 
but they showed their spite against him by many indignities 
offered to him, and never left him till they had procured a 
sentence of death against him from the Roman governor. 

19 Q. What were these indignities 7 

A. They suffered their officers to mock and insult him, to 
smite and spit upon him, to blind his eyes and buffet him ; 
then they bound him and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, 
the Roman governor, Mark xiv. 65, and chap. xv. 1. 

20 Q. What became of Judas the traitor, when he saw 
the priests had condemned Christ 7 

A. He repented of his treachery, brought the thirty pieces 
of silver to the priests, and went away and hanged himself; 
and falling down, his body burst, and his bowels fell out, 
Matt, xxvii. 1—5. Acts i. 18. 

21 Q. What did Pilate determine concerning Jesus? 

A. Pilate found him to be an innocent man, and that the 
priests and elders had accused him out of envy, and there- 
fore he would fain have released him, Mark xv. 9, 10, and 
Luke xxiii. 4. * 

22 Q. How did Pilate propose to release him, when he 
was charged as so great a criminal by their accusations 7 

A. It was the custom at the passover to release some pri- 
soner, and he offered to release Jesus to them at that season, 
Mark xv. 6—9. 

23 Q. Did the Jews accept of Pilate's proposal 7 

A. No, they chose rather to have Barabbas released, who 
was a robber and a murderer, and demanded Jesus to be 
crucified, ver. 7, 11, 13. 

24 Q. Did Pilate yield to their demands 7 

A. Yes, at last he released Barabbas ; and when he had 
scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified, even 
against his own conscience, ver. 15. 

25 Q. How came Pilate to be persuaded to crucify an in- 
nocent man 7 

A. He did it partly to please the Jews, and partly lest he 

should be counted an enemy to Caesar if he spared Christ, 

who did not deny himself to be a king, Mark xv. 15. John 

xix. 12, 13. 

i 26 Q. What further indignities were cast on our Saviour 7 



AND BURIAL OF CHRIST. 243 

A. They stripped him of his own clothes, and put on him 
a scarlet robe in mockery, because he did not deny himself 
to be the king of the Jews; they platted a crown of thorns, 
and put it on his head, with a reed in his right hand ; they 
bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, 
king of the Jews I they smote him with a reed, and spit 
upon him, Mark xv. 17 — 19. 

27 Q. How did the blessed Jesus carry it under all these 
affronts 1 

A. Being reviled, he reviled not again, but stood before 
his accusers and his judges as an innocent lamb stands silent 
before the shearers : and made very few replies to all their 
accusations, charges, and inquiries, Mark xiv. 61. Acts viii. 
32. 1 Pet. ii. 23. 

28 Q. In what manner did they crucify him 1 

A. They put his own garments on him again, they carried 
him to Calvary, the place of execution, and there they nailed 
him on the cross ; where they also crucified two malefactors, 
one on his right hand and the other on his left, Mark xv. 20. 
Luke xxiii. 33. 

29 Q. Did our Saviour then make no resistance, nor give 
a rebuke to their wicked cruelty 1 

A. He only prayed for them, and said, Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do, Luke xxiii. 34. 

30 Q. What was the inscription set over his head by 
command of Pilate 1 

A. This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews ; and 
it was written in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, John xix. 19. 

31 Q. What affronts did he suffer on the cross 1 

A. When the soldiers had cast lots for his garments, the 
rulers mocked him, many of the Jews reviled him, and so 
did one of the thieves that was crucified with him, Luke 
xxiii. 34, 39. 

32 Q. How did the other thief carry it towards him? 

A. He rebuked his fellow, acknowledged his own guilt, 
and the innocence of Christ; and he prayed that Jesus 
would remember him when he came into his kingdom, Luke 
xxiii. 40 — 42. 

33 Q. What answer did Christ make to his faith and 
prayer 1 

A. Jesus said, Verily, to-day shalt thou be with me in 
paradise, ver. 43. 



244 THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF CHRIST. 

34 Q. What respect did Jesus pay to his own mother 
Mary, when he saw her near the cross ? 

A. He commended her to the care of John, his beloved 
disciple; and from that time John took her to his own house, 
John xix. 26, 27. 

35 Q. What were some of the last words of Jesus on the 
cross 1 

A. He cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me? And a little after, he said, It is finished; then 
he cried with a loud voice, Father, into thy hands I commend 
my spirit, and died immediately, Mark xv. 34. Luke xxiii. 
46. John xix. 30. 

36 Q. What remarkable occurrences attended the death 
of Christ? 

A. 1. At the sixth hour there was darkness over the 
whole land till the ninth hour ; that is, from noon till three 
o'clock in the afternoon, Mark xv. 33. 

2. The vail of the temple, which divided the holy place 
from the holy of holies, was rent from the top to the bottom. 

3. There was an earthquake, the rocks were rent, graves 
were then opened, and many of the pious dead arose after 
his resurrection, and appeared to several persons in Jerusa- 
lem, Matt, xxvii. 51 — 53. . 

4. The centurion who guarded the crucifixion of Christ, 
seeing these things, was constrained to confess, surely this 
man was the Son of God, Mark xv. 39. 

37 Q. What was done to the body of Jesus, after his 
death? 

A. When they broke the legs of the thieves who were 
crucified, that they might die the sooner, and be taken down 
from the cross before the sabbath, they broke not the legs 
of Jesus, because he was already dead, but a soldier pierced 
his side with a spear, and there issued blood and water, 
John xix. 31—37. 

38 Q. How was Jesus buried ? 

A. Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, went in boldly to 
Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus, wrapped it in clean 
linen, with spices, laid it in his own new tomb, and rolled a 
great stone to the door of the sepulchre, Mark xv. 43 — 46. 
Luke xxiii. 56. John xix. 40. 

39 Q. What was done by the enemies of Christ to secure 
him from rising again 1 



THE RESURRECTION OP CHRIST. ' 245 

A. The Jews desired Pilate to set a guard of soldiers 
about the sepulchre, and that they might know if the tomb 
had been opened, they sealed the stone that was rolled to 
the door of it, Matt, xxvii. 62—66. 

Sect. II.—- Of the Resurrection and Appearance of Christ. 

40 Q. How did Jesus arise from the dead ] 

A. " Early on the first day of the week there was a great 
earthquake, and an angel rolled back the stone from the 
door, and sat upon it, his countenance was like lightning, 
and his raiment white as snow ; the keepers shook for fear, 
and the angel said, Jesus is not here ; for he is risen," Matt 
xxviii. 1 — 4. 

41 Q. What was the first notice the apostles of Christ 
had of his resurrection 1 

A. Early in the morning after the sabbath, some good 
women came to bring spices and ointments, to anoint the 
body, and they found the stone rolled away from the sepul- 
chre ; and an angel told them Jesus was risen ; and bid 
them go tell his disciples, Mark xvi. 1—8. 

42 Q. Which of the apostles came to the sepulchre to 
examine this matter ] 

A. Peter and John both went to the sepulchre, and found 
the linen clothes and the napkin, in which the body was 
wrapped, and were convinced that Jesus was risen, John 
xx. 1 — 10. 

43 Q. What story did the Jews tell concerning the re- 
surrection of Christ 1 

A. When the guards told the chief priests what was done, 
the priests and elders bribed them largely to say, that while 
ithey slept, his disciples came by night, and stole him aivav. 
Matt, xxviii. 11—13. y 

44 Q. How then did the soldiers come off with the £0- 
'vernor'? 

1 A. The priests persuaded the governor to forgive them 
jfor sleeping-, ver. 14. 

45 Q. To whom did Jesus appear after his resurrection 1 
j A. First to Mary Magdalen, afterwards to two disciples 
Igomg to Emmaus; then to the apostles assembled, without 
'Thomas ; and all this on the day of his resurrection ; after- 
fwards he appeared to the apostles when Thomas was with 

x 2 



246 CHRIST APPEARS TO HIS DISCIPLES. 

them; again at the sea of Tiberias to seven of his disciples; 
then to eleven of his disciples on a mountain in Galilee ; 
then near Jerusalem, when he ascended to heaven, John xx. 
11. Luke xxiv. 13—31. John xx. 19—23, 26—29. Acts i. 
1—12. John xxi. 1—14. Matt, xxviii. 16. 

46 Q. How long did he continue on earth after his re- 
surrection ? 

A. He continued forty days, giving his disciples further 
instructions in the great things of the gospel, which they 
were not prepared to receive before his death, Acts i. 3. 
John xvi. 12. 

47 Q. How did he appear to Mary Magdalen ? 

A. When she found not Jesus in the tomb, she turned 
away from the sepulchre, and she saw Jesus, but knew him 
not, till he called her by her name, John xx. 14 — 16. 

48 Q. What did he say to her? 

A. Touch me not at present, but go to my brethren, and 
tell them, I ascend to my Father, and your Father, to my 
God and your God, ver. 17. 

49 Q. How did he appear to his two disciples going to 
Emmaus ? 

A. He joined himself to them as they were walking, he 
reproved them for their unbelief; he proved to them out of 
the prophets that the Messiah was to suffer death, and to 
enter into glory ; he went into the house and did eat with 
them ; and when they began to know him, he vanished out 
of their sight, Luke xxiv. 13 — 31. 

50 Q. How did he reveal himself to the apostles when 
Thomas was absent, the same evening? 

A. When the doors were shut for fear of the Jews, Jesus 
came and stood in the midst of them; he blessed them, and 
gave them a commission to preach the gospel, he breathed 
on them, and bid them receive the Holy Ghost, John xx. 
19, 23. 

51 Q. How did he appear to them when Thomas was with 
them? 

A. A week after, Jesus stood in the midst of them again, 
when the doors were shut, and bid Thomas see and feel the 
marks of the nails in his hands, and of the spear in his side, 
and rebuked his unbelief, John xx. 24 — 27. 

52 Q. Did Thomas confess him then ? 

A. Thomas with surprise and joy acknowledged him. 



CHRIST'S ASCENSION TO HEAVEN. 247 

He broke out into a rapture of zeal and worship, and said to 
him, My Lord and my God ! ver. 28. 

53 Q. How did he show himself to them at the sea of 
Tiberias 1 

A. Some of them went a fishing, and caught nothing all 
night ; Jesus stood on the shore in the morning, and bid them 
cast the net on the right side of the ship; and they took a 
multitude of fishes, John xxi. 1—6. 

54 Q. What remarkable occurrence happened at this 
meeting 1 

A. When they knew it was the Lord, Peter cast himself 
into the sea ; and when they were come to the shore, they 
ate some broiled fish, and Jesus did eat with them, John 
xxi. 7, 13. 

55 Q. How did Jesus reprove Peter for his want of love 
to him, and denying his master 1 

A. He rebuked him in a very gentle manner of speech, 
by asking Peter three times, whether he loved him or not, 
and then he foretold that Peter should love him so well as 
to suffer and die for his sake, ver. 15 — 19. 

56 Q. How did he appear to them on the mountain in 
Galilee 1 

A. Jesus appointed them to meet him there ; he told them 
that all power in heaven and earth was given into his 
hands ; he gave them their commission to preach the gospel 
to all nations; and promised his presence with them, and a 
power to work miracles for the vindication of their doctrine, 
Matt, xxviii. 16—20. 

Sect. III. — Of his Ascension to Heaven. 

57 Q. How did he manifest himself to them near Jeru- 
salem ] 

A. He met them, and led them out as far as to mount 
Olivet, near Bethany ; he bid them to tarry at Jerusalem 
till the promised Spirit should fall upon them ; he repeated 
their commission, appointed them to be witnesses for him in 
the world ; and having blessed them, he ascended to heaven 
in a bright cloud, Luke xxiv. 49 — 51. Acts i. 4 — 11. 

58 Q. Did he not appear to five hundred brethren at once 1 
A. St. Paul asserts it, 1 Cor. xv. 6, and it was neither the 



248 THE ACTS OF ST. PETER, 

first nor the last time of his appearance: but when it was, 
is uncertain, Acts L 12. 

59 Q. What notice was there given from heaven of his 
return again ] 

A. While they were gazing towards heaven, two angels 
appeared and assured them, that they should see him return 
in the same manner as he ascended, Acts i. 10, 11. 

60 Q. Whither went the disciples then 1 

A. They worshipped Christ when he ascended to heaven, 
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, praising God, 
Luke xxiv. 52, 53. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Of the Acts of the Apostles, chiefly Peter and John: and 
the Deacons, Stephen, and Philip. 

1 Q. What was the first remarkable thing the apostles 
did toward their future ministry, after they returned to Je- 
rusalem ? 

A. They chose two out of their company at Jerusalem, 
(which was one hundred and twenty) that one of them 
might be an apostle and witness of the resurrection of Christ, 
in the room of Judas the traitor, Acts i. 15 — 22. 

2 Q. How did they determine, which of those two should 
be the man 1 

A. They called on the Lord by prayer, then cast lots, and 
the lot fell upon Matthias, who was numbered with the ele- 
ven apostles, Acts i. 24, 26. 

3 Q. How long did they wait for the promised Spirit to 
fall on them 1 

A. On the day of pentecost, which was ten days after the 
ascension of Christ, the Spirit of God was sent down upon 
them, Acts ii. 1, &c, 

4 Q. In what manner did the Spirit come upon them? 
A. The house where they were met, was filled with the 

sound of a rushing wind ; and cloven tongues of fire ap- 
peared, and sat upon each of them, ver. 2, 3. 



JOHN AND STEPHEN, &e. 249 

5 Q. What was the first effect of the descent of the Holy 
Spirit upon them 1 

A. They all spoke with various tongues the wonderful 
works of God, to the amazement of the Jews, and a multi- 
tude of proselytes of all nations that were then at Jerusalem, 
ver. 4, 11, 

6 Q. Which of the apostles seemed to be the chief speaker 
at that time, and what was their doctrine 7 

A. Peter preaches to this multitude, bears witness to the 
resurrection and exaltation of Christ, and the pouring out 
of the Spirit of God on men ; partly from his own knowledge, 
and from these present visible effects thereof among them, 
and partly from the prophecies and promises of scripture ; 
he leads them to Christ as a Saviour and Lord, calls them 
to repentance of their sins, and a profession of their faith in 
Jesus, by being baptized in his name, ver. 14^—41. 

7 Q. What success had this sermon ! 

A. Three thousand souls were added to the disciples of 
Christ, and baptized on that day, ver. 41. 

8 Q. What was the temper of spirit, which was admirable 
in these primitive converts] 

A. A spirit of devotion towards God and Christ, with a 
spirit of benevolence and intimate friendship towards each 
other, so far, that they were daily in the temple praising 
God ; they were frequently, or rather continually engaged 
in prayer, and in remembering the death of Christ by break- 
ing bread with joy ; and they so liberally distributed to the 
poor, that none was in want. These were the glorious ef- 
fects of Christianity in its first appearance, ver. 42 — 47. 

9 Q. How did the apostles effectually prove their doctrine, 
and their commission to preach 1 

A. By doing many signs and wonders among the people, 
! which were the gifts of the Spirit, proceeding from a risen 
I Saviour, ver. 33 — 43. 
I 

Note. This was the proper beginning of the kingdom of Christ, 
' or the Christian dispensation ; which was set up in the world in its 
glory, at the pouring down of the spirit, after the ascension of Christ, 
'. and his exaltation to the government of the world and the church. 

10 Q. What remarkable miracle was wrought by Peter 
' and John at the temple gate 1 

A. A beggar that was born a cripple, received the use of 



250 THE ACTS OF ST. PETER, 

his limbs, when they bid him rise up and walk, in the name 
of Jesus of Nazareth, Acts iii. 1 — 9. 

11 Q. What use was made of this miracle ? 

A. Peter took occasion from it to preach up this new doc- 
trine, namely, the resurrection of Christ, and salvation in 
his name, citing the ancient prophets to confirm it, Acts iii. 
12—26. 

12 Q. What was the effect of this sermon? 

A. Five thousand men were converted by it to the faith 
of Christ ; but the priests and rulers put the apostles in pri- 
son, Acts iv. 1 — 4. 

13 Q. What defence did the apostles make when they 
were brought the next day before the priests and rulers? 

A. They took courage again, and preached to this court 
the doctrine of the gospel of Christ, and silenced their ene- 
mies by having the cripple that was healed to stand among 
them, ver. 5, 14. 

14 Q. What became of them after this their defence ? 
A. They were dismissed, and charged to preach no more 

in the name of Jesus ; but Peter and John declared they 
would obey God rather than man, ver. 15—20. 

15 Q. Whither went the apostles after their discharge ? 
A. They went to their own company, and gave glory to 

God in prayer and praise ; and their whole assembly was 
filled with the Holy Ghost, and boldly spake the word of 
God, ver. 23—31. 

16 Q. What remarkable instance of goodness and com- 
passion was practised by these first believers ? 

A. The souls of all of them were so united in love to 
Christ, and one to another, that they sold their possessions and 
goods, and threw all into a common stock, which the apos- 
tles divided to every man according to his need, Acts ii. 44, 
45, and iv. 32—35. 

17 Q. Were they all faithful and honest in bringing the 
price of their estates to the joint stock ? 

A. There was one Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, who 
sold a possession, and secretly withheld part of the money, 
though they declared they had paid it all in, Acts v. 1, 2. 

18 Q. Did they meet with any punishment for this theii 
hypocrisy and deceit? 

A. Peter charged them with lying to the Holy Ghost 
and they were both struck dead at his word, ver. 3 — 10., 






JOHN AND STEPHEN, &c. 251 

19 Q. What effect had this upon the multitude 1 

A. It discouraged others that were in the church from 
practising the like deceit, and frightened hypocrites from 
coming into the church merely in hopes of a maintenance, 
ver. 11. 

20 Q. What other miracles were wrought by the apostles] 
A. Multitudes of sick were healed, and those that were 

possessed with devils were relieved, both in Jerusalem and 
the cities round about, ver. 15, 16. 

21 Q. Did the high priest and rulers let the apostles go 
on at this rate .1 

A. They again put them in prison, but the angel of the 
Lord by night opened the prison doors, and sent them again 
to preach this gospel, ver. 17 — 22. 

22 Q. When they were brought again before the rulers, 
how did they behave themselves 1 

A. They charged the rulers with putting Christ to death, 
and declared they were witnesses of his resurrection ; and 
that God had exalted him to be a Prince and Saviour, to 
| give repentance and forgiveness of sins, ver. 29 — 32. 

23 Q. What effect had this speech upon the rulers and 
elders 1 

A. At the advice of Gemaliel (who doubted whether the 
hand of God was not with the apostles) they dismissed them 
again, but they beat them first, and again commanded them 
to preach Jesus Christ no more, ver. 33 — 42. 

24 Q. When there were such multitudes of converts, how 
could the apostles both preach the gospel, and distribute the 
money to the poor ] 

A. The apostles were sensible that the labour was too 

much for them, and therefore they bid the disciples choose 

| out seven men (who were afterwards called deacons) to take 

I care of the poor, that they might more constantly be engaged 

; in preaching and prayer, Acts vi. 1 — 5. 

25 Q. How did the apbstles separate those whom the 
( people chose to this office of deacon ? 

A. They prayed and laid their hands on them, ver. 6. 

26 Q. Who were the most considerable of these seven 
men] 

A. Stephen and Philip, who were full of faith and power, 
and had great gifts communicated to them. 

27 Q. What is related concerning Stephen 1 



252 THE ACTS OF ST. PETER, 

A He wrought wonders, and no doubt he preached the 
word with power, till ho was accused to the council tor 
blasphemy against God and Moses, ver. 8—1.). 
•>8 Q How did Stephen detend himseli .' 
\ Bv a lonf rehearsal of their artcient histories, he 
charged them and their fathers with resisting ; the :Ho y Spi- 
rit, with killing the prophets, and with breakmg the : law o 
God; and upbraided them at last with the murdei ot Christ, 

Acts vii. 1 — 53. . , ■■ , A , , ■ ., 

29 Q. What did they do with btephen after so bold a 

SP T When he told them further, that he saw the heavens 
opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of Corf, they 
cried out against him as a blasphemer, with a loud voice, 
they cast him out of the city and stoned him, ver. 54-38. 

30 Q. How did Stephen behave at his death ! 

A. He being the first martyr for Christ, gave a glorious 
instance of his faith and love. 

31 Q. Wherein did his faith appear 

A. At his death he prayed, and said, Lord Jesus receive 
my Spirit, ver. 59. . , . , 

32 Q. How did he manifest his love ! 

A. He prayed for his enemies, and saio, Lord, lay not this 
sin to their charge, ver. 60. ,i-„i„„„„t 

33 Q What is recorded concerning Philip the deacon i 
A. He went, down to Samaria, and preached Christ among 

them, and healed the sick, and cast out devils, Acts vm. S 

34 Q. Did he make any converts there • 

A Yes, many of the Samaritans believed in Christ and 
were-baptized, and among the rest one Simon a sorcerer 
was baptized, who is commonly called Swm>» Magus, ver. 

~35 Q. Did these believers at Samaria receive the Holy 

? T Peter and John the apostles, came down on purpose 
from Jerusalem, and laid hands on them, and they received 
the Holy Spirit, ver. 14—17. 

Nam This makes it evident, that Philip. "^ P^edto the 
Samaritan* was not the apostle so named, but thejeacon for lad 
he been the apostle, there would have been no need for Peter and 
John to come Wn Jerusalem to lay hands on those that believed. 



JOHN AND STEPHEN, &c. 253 

36 Q. How did Simon Magus betray his own hypocrisy 
and falsehood ? 

A. He offered them money, that he might have power to 
communicate the Holy Ghost to others, by laying on his 
hands, ver. 18, 19. 

37 Q. How was he reproved for this his rashness and 
folly ? 

A. Peter said to him, Thy money perish with thee! 
Thou hast no part in this matter ; for thy heart is not right, 
in the sight of God, ver. 20, 21. 

38 Q. Whither was Philip sent next to preach I 

A. The angel of the Lord sent to him, to meet a great 
officer of the queen of Ethiopia upon the road, as he was re- 
turning from Jerusalem, where he had been to worship as a 
proselyte, ver. 26, 27. 

39 Q. How was he employed when Philip met him ? 

A. He was sitting in his chariot, and reading the 53d 
chapter of Isaiah, where it is written, He was led as a sheep 
to the slaughter, &c. ver. 21, 32. 

40 Q. In what manner did Philip preach the gospel to 
him? 

A. Upon his inquiry, " Who was the person of whom the 
prophet spake 1" Philip preached Jesus Christ the Saviour 
to him, ver. 34, 35. 

41 Q. What success had this discourse of Philip ? 

A. He professed his faith, that Jesus is the Son of God, 
and was baptized as soon as they came to any water, ver. 
36—38. 

42 Q. What became of Philip afterwards? 

A. The spirit of the Lord caught him away, and carried 
him to Azotus; whence he travelled to Cesarea, and 
preached to all the cities upon the road, ver. 39, 40. 

43 Q. What are the next remarkable actions of Peter? 
A. He went down to Lydda, and cured Eneas, who had 

kept his bed eight years with the palsy ; and he went to 
Joppa, and raised Dorcas from the dead, Acts ix. 32—41. 

44 Q. Who was this Dorcas ? 

A. She was a woman full of good works, and who made 
garments for the poor, ver. 36 — 39. 

45 Q. What was the effect of these miracles ? 

A. Many at Lydda and Joppa believed, and turned to the 
Lord, ver. 35 — 42. v 



254 THE ACTS OF ST. PETER, 

46 Q. What message did Peter receive while he was at 
Joppa 1 

A. Cornelius, a centurion that feared God, and prayed to 
him daily, was ordered by an angel in a vision to send to 
Joppa for Peter, that he might teach him the way of salva- 
tion, Acts x. 1 — 8. 

47 Q. Did Peter readily go upon this message, and preach 
to Cornelius who was one of the Gentiles ? 

A. Peter being a Jew, would have thought it unlawful to 
keep company with the Gentiles ; that is, to go and sojourn, 
and eat with them in a familiar manner, as thinking them 
unclean. But God forewarned him in a vision, just before 
the messengers came to him, that he should freely go and 
preach to the Gentiles who sent for him, ver. 19, 20, 28, 29. 

48 Q. What sort of a vision was this whereby God fore- 
warned Peter, that the Gentiles should not be judged un- 
clean any longer 1 

A. While the messengers of Cornelius drew near the 
city, Peter went upon the house-top to pray ; and there was 
a great sheet appeared to be let down from heaven, with all 
manner of unclean beasts and birds, and creeping things ; 
and a voice bid Peter kill and eat, nor call those things un- 
clean, which God hath cleansed, ver. 9, 20. 

Note. By this vision, Peter seems to have been taught these three 
things at once, namely: he was taught literally and expressly, that 
there were no more Jewish distinctions of meats to be observed ; he 
was taught, by way of emblem, that the Gentiles should no longer 
be accounted unclean, or unfit for Jews familiarly to eat and con- 
verse with ; and that the Gentiles were to be admitted into church 
fellowship. 

49 Q. How did Peter begin his sermon to Cornelius and 
his friends ? 

A. Thus: Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter 
of persons ; but in every nation, he that feareth God, and 
worketh righteousness, is accepted of him, Acts x. 34, 35, 

50 Q. What was the chief substance of his discourse? 
A. He preached the life, and death, and resurrection of 

Christ; and that he was ordained to be the judge of the 
world ; and that whosoever believeth in him should have 
remission of sins, ver. 36 — 43. 

51 Q. Had this sermon of Peter any remarkable success? 
A, While Peter spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell 

■ 



JOHN AND STEPHEN, &c. 255 

on all those that were present ; and they spake with tongues, 
and were baptized in the name of the Lord, ver 44—48 

«.nL a >t?T I did / ete , r defend himself for conversing and 
eating with the Gentiles, when the Jewish believere re- 
proved him for it 1 

A. Peter related the whole story, both of his own vision 
upon the house-top, and of the angel that was sent to Cor- 
H.I. ku^" 1 success of his sermon; upon 
which they held their peace, and glorified God, Actsxi. 1—18 

5J Q. Were the disciples of Christ free from persecution 
at tnis time / 

A They had been free from persecution for a consider- 
able time id Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, till Herod 
killed James, the brother of John, with the sword, and put 
Peter m prison, Acts ix. 31, and xii. 1—4 F 

54 Q. How did Peter escape from his hands? 

A. Prayer was made by the church, without ceasing for 
him; and while he was sleeping between two soldiers, 
bound with two chains, and the centinels kept the prison door, 
at night a light shone in the prison, and the angel of the 
Lord awaked him, the chains fell from his handsfthe gates 
opened of their own accord, and the angel brought him into 
the street, and departed, Acts xii. 5—10. 

55 Q Whither went Peter after his release from prison 3 

«k !u° r ? SG ° f Mary ' the mother of John Mark, 
where the disciples were met together for prayer, and he 
ordered them to acquaint the brethren of his miraculous de- 
liverance, ver. 12—17. 

mem?' H0W did Her ° d Sh0W his rage f ° r his disa PP° int - 
A He commanded the keepers of the prison to be put to 
death, being exceedingly vexed that Peter had escaped his 
; hands, ver. 19. r 

57 Q What remarkable judgment of God fell upon Herod * 
A Upon a special occasion, sitting on his throne in his 
royal robes, he made a speech to the people; upon which 
they cried out It is the voice of a God, and not of a man: 
and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because 
!he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms, and 
died, ver. 21 — 23. 

; Note. Josephus confirms this account of Herod's death, and as- 
-cnbes it to the just judgment of God upon him for his atrocious wick- 



256 THE ACTS OF ST. PETER, &c. 

edness. Of course only the inspired writer could tell us that an an- 
gel of God was the cause of Herod's sudden and loathsome distemper. 

58 Q. What further account is there given of Peter in 
scripture 1 

A. He preached the gospel to the world, he encouraged 
the receiving of the Gentiles into the church, without cir- 
cumcision, by his own example ; he wrote letters to encou- 
rage the believers under persecution; till at last he was 
crucified, as Christ had foretold him, Acts xv. 7 — 11, first 
and second epistle of Peter, John xxi. 18, 19. 2 Peter i. 13 
—15. 

59 Q. Is there any thing else recorded concerning the 
apostle John 1 

A. He also preached the word, and wrote the history of 
the life and death of Christ, which is called his gospel ; he 
wrote several epistles to the Christians ; he was banished to 
the isle of Patmos by the Roman emperor Domitian, for the 
sake of Christ, where he wrote the book of the Revelation. 
In what order he wrote these things, does not appear from 
scripture. He survived all the other apostles, and is sup- 
posed to be the only one of them who died a natural death. 

60 Q. You have informed us what were the doctrines, 
and what was the religion that the apostles and disciples 
taught after Christ went to heaven : but how comes it to 
pass, that among these doctrines, we do not find them at 
first insisting more expressly on that great article of the 
gospel, the redemption by Christ's death, and the atonement 
made for sin by his sufferings ? 

A. It is sufficiently evident that this doctrine was taught 
the world by Peter and John, as well as by Paul, since 
there is frequent mention of it in their epistles, as well as 
it shines every where through the epistles of St. Paul. Nor 
can we suppose their preaching utterly forgot or neglected 
what their writings abound with, 1 Peter i. 18, 19, chap. ii. 
24, chap. iii. 18, and iv. 1. 1 John i. 7, chap. ii. 2, chap. iii. 
16, and chap. v. 6, and therefore they preached it sometimes 
at first, though it is not always expressly recorded in such 
short abstracts of their sermons, as we find in the book of 
Acts. If this doctrine was not published at first with such 
frequency and freedom as afterward, there seems to be a 
very good reason for it, namely, because neither the Jews 
nor Gentiles could bear it so soon ; for it was a stumbling- 



ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, &c. 257 

block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks, 1 Cor. i. 
23. And they were to be led by degrees into a full ac- 
quaintance with the mystery of the gospel ; even as Christ 
himself led his own disciples by slow degrees into the 
knowledge of this and other things, as they were able to 
bear them, John xvi. 12. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

The Acts of Paul the Apostle, his Travels and Sufferings^ 
his Life and Death, 

1Q. Who was Paul? 

A. He was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, born at Tar- 
sus ; his name at first was Saul, he was brought up in the 
strict sect of the Pharisees, a man of good morals, and ex- 
ceeding zealous of the traditions of the fathers, Acts xxiii. 
9, and xxi. 39. Phil. iii. 5, 6. Gal. i. 14. Acts vii. 58. 

2 Q. What was his behaviour towards the Christians 
while he continued a Pharisee 1 

A. He was a very great persecutor in his younger years, 
he made havoc of the church every where, sending men and 
women to prison, and he encouraged those who stoned Ste- 
phen, Acts viii. 1, 3, and vii. 58. 

3 Q. How came he to become a Christian t 

A. As he was going to Damascus, with orders from the 
high priest to bring all the Christians fee could find there, 
bound to Jerusalem, he was struck down on the road by a 
! blaze of light from heaven, Acts ix. 1 — 3. 

4 Q. Did he hear any voice at the same time ? 

A. A voice from heaven said to him, Saul, Saul, why 
persecutest thou me 1 I am Jesus whom thou persecutest, 
Iver. 4, 5. 

i 5 Q. What effect had this upon Saul 7 
I A. He trembled and cried put, Lord, what wilt thou 
[have me to do? And the Lord bid him arise, and go to the 
•city of Damascus, and there he should be told his duty, ver. 6. 

6 Q. Did Saul obey this divine vision? 
y 2 



258 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, 

A. He rose from the earth, and found that he was struck 
blind, and he was led by the hand into Damascus, where he 
was three days without sight, and without food, and engaged 
much in prayer, ver. 8 — 11. 

7 Q. Who was sent to teach him his duty there 1 

A. Ananias, a disciple, was ordered by the Lord in a vi- 
sion, to go to him in the house where he lodged, and to re- 
store his eye-sight, ver. 11, 12, and to tell him what honour 
and duty God had appointed for him. 

8 Q. Did Ananias go willingly on this errand 1 
A. He was at first afraid to go, because he had heard of 

his cruel persecution of the Christians; but the Lord as- 
sured him that Saul would receive him, because he had given 
Saul also a vision of one Ananias, to prepare him for his 
coming, ver. 10, &c. 

9 Q. How did Saul recover his sight? 

A. Ananias laid his hands upon him, and he received his 
sight, and was filled with the Holy Ghost, and was baptized, 
ver. 17, 18. 

10 Q. Who appointed Saul at first to be a preacher 3 

A. The Lord Jesus ordered Ananias to tell him, that God 
had chosen him to know his will, to see Jesus, and to be a 
witness for Christ to the world, Acts xxii. 14, &c. And 
some time after that, Christ himself, in another vision, sent 
him to preach to the heathen nations, ver. 21. 

Note. Tn St. Paul's rehearsal of this matter to Agrippa, Acts xxvi. 
16, &c. Christ himself is represented as giving Paul his first commis- 
sion from heaven to the Gentiles at this time. Yet it has been ques- 
tioned, whether the apostle dpes not in this rehearsal join together all 
that Christ said to hhn, both in his first vision upon the road to Da- 
mascus, and his second vision at Jerusalem in the temple, when he 
was more expressly sent to the Gentiles, Acts xxii. 17, 18, 21, but this 
is too large a debate to be assumed here. Perhaps indeed Ananias 
simply repeated to Paul what Jesus had before told him in respect to 
his apostleship. This last explanation most easily clears up the sacred 
history. 

11 Q. How did Saul employ himself after this wonderful 
appearance ? 

A. He was a few days with the disciples at Damascus, 
and he soon preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is 
the Son of God, to the amazement of them that heard him, 
ver. 29, 22. 






AND SUFFERINGS, 259 

12 Q. How came he to learn and preach the gospel so 
soon? 

A. He was taught the gospel by revelation of Jesus Christ, 
as he himself declares, Gal. i. 1, 11 — 16. 

Note. It was necessary that Paul should see Christ, and receive 
the gospel from him, that he might be an apostle, and stand upon the 
same ground with the original twelve. This derivation of his au- 
thority and gospel immediately from Christ, Paul strongly insists upon 
in his epistle to the Galatians, Gal. i. 1, 11, 12, 15, 16, 19; ii. 2, 6—10. 

13 Q. Where did he preach the gospel when he went 
from Damascus] 

A. In Arabia, and he returned again to Damascus, and 
did not go up to the apostles at Jerusalem till three years 
after, Gal. i. 17, 18. 

14 Q. When he returned to Damascus how did the Jews 
bear with him 1 

A. They watched the" gates night and day, to slay him ; 
but the disciples took him by night, and let him down by 
the wall in a basket, Acts ix. 23—25, and 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33. 

15 Q. When he came to Jerusalem, how was he received 
by the disciples 1 

A. They were all afraid of him, because he had been 
so great a persecutor of the Christians but a very few years 
before, ver. 26. 

16 Q. How were they persuaded to believe that he was 
now a disciple of Christ 1 

A. Barnabas brought him to the apostles, and gave an 
account of Christ's calling him from heaven, and his preach- 
ing boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus, ver. 27 — 29. 

17 Q. Who was Barnabas 1 

A. A Levite of Cyprus, whose name was Joses, who was 
a zealous disciple of Christ, and a preacher of the gospel, 
whom the apostles surnamed Barnabas, that is, the son of 
consolation, Acts iv. 36. 

18 Q. Did Saul preach Christ at Jerusalem ? 

A. Yes, with great courage ; but the Grecians, that is, 
the Hellenist or Grecian Jews, sought to slay him, and then 
the brethren persuaded him to retire to his native place, 
Tarsus in Cilicia, Acts ix. 28—30. 

19 Q. What was that other vision which he had of Christ 
hen he was at Jerusalem ? 

A. As he was praying in the temple he saw the Lord, 



260 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, 

who assured him that the Jews would not receive his wit- 
ness concerning him, and bid him depart from Jerusalem, 
for that he would send him to the Gentiles, Acts xxii. 17 — 21. 

Note. Though this account of Paul's seeing Christ in the temple 
©f Jerusalem, seems here immediately to follow the account of his 
conversion, Acts xxii. 16, 17, yet some think he had not this vision 
till the second time of his coming to Jerusalem. 

20 Q. Whither was Barnabas sent by the apostles 7 

A. When they heard of the great success of the gospel 
in foreign countries, they sent him as far as Antioch in Sy 
ria, to confirm the disciples, Acts xi. 22 — 24. 

Note. The great success of the gospel at this time, was partly 
among the Jews who resided in other countries, and partly the Jew- 
ish proselytes of the gate, or the devout persons, and such as feared 
God, Acts x. 17, and chap. xiii. 16, 50. 

21 Q. Whither did Barnabas go when he left Antioch ? 
A. He went to Tarsus to seek Saul, and brought him to 

Antioch, where they spent a whole year together, and there 
the disciples were first called Christians, Acts xi. 25, 26. 

22 Q. What further commission had Barnabas and Saul 
to preach the gospel to the Gentiles? 

A. The Holy Spirit appointed the prophets and teachers 
at Antioch to separate Barnabas and Saul to the work to 
which he had called them, that is, to preach to the idola- 
trous Gentiles, which they did by fasting, prayer, and lay- 
ing on their hands, Acts xiii. 1 — 3. 

23 Q. Who was their assistant or attendant in this jour- 
ney] 

A. John Mark, nephew to Barnabas, Acts xii. 25, and 
chap. xiii. 5. Col. iv. 10. 

24 Q. What opposition did they meet with when they 
came to Paphos in the island of Cyprus 1 

A. When Sergius Paulus, the governor of the country, 
sent for them, that he might hear the word of God, Elymas 
a Jew, who was a false prophet and a sorcerer withstood 
them, in order to prevent the governor from believing, ver. 
6—8. 

25 Q. How was Elymas punished for this crime 1 

A. Saul (who from this time is called Paul in scripture) 
struck him blind with his word, upon which the governor 
believed in Christ, xiii. ver. 10 — 12. 






AND SUFFERINGS. 261 

Note. From Paphos they went to Pamphylia in Asia, and there 
John Mark returned to Jerusalem, and left Paul and Barnabas, ver. 
13. 

26 Q. Where were the next remarkable labours of Paul 
and Barnabas'? 

A. Paul preached in the synagogue of the Jews at An- 
tioch in Pisidia, where he proved Jesus to be the premised 
Saviour, and published his death and resurrection, and for- 
giveness of sins through his name, Acts xiii. 14 — 41. 

27 Q. What effect had Paul's preaching upon the inha- 
bitants of that city 'J 

A. Many of the Jews, filled with envy, contradicted the 
words of Paul, and blasphemed Christ ; upon which Paul 
declared, that since the Jews rejected the gospel, they would 
turn to the Gentiles, according to the command of the Lord, 
ver. 45 — 47. 

28 Q. Did the Gentiles receive the gospel there 1 

A. Many of them believed the word of the Lord, which 
seems to be the first remarkable conversion of the idolatrous 
Gentiles. But the Jews prevailed so far as to drive Paul 
and Barnabas out of their coasts, who shook off the dust of 
their feet against them, according to the command of Christ, 
ver. 48—51. Matt. x. 14. 

29 Q. Whither did Paul and Barnabas travel next ] 

A. They went to Iconium, and preached the gospel with 
such success there, both among the Jews and Gentiles ; till 
being in danger of stoning, they fled to Lystra, Acts xiv. 1 
— 6. 

30 Q. What remarkable occurrence fell out at Lystra 3 
A. A man that was born a cripple, hearing Paul preach, 

and having faith, was healed by Paul, and he leaped and 
walked, ver. 8 — 10. 

31 Q. How did this miracle affect the people 1 

A. They supposed Barnabas and Paul to be two of their 
1 gods, namely, Jupiter and Mercury, who were come down 
in the likeness of men; and Barnabas and Paul had much 
I ado to hinder the people from offering sacrifice to them, 
•, ver. 8—18. 
j 32 Q. Did the people continue in this mind 1 

A. They were so changeable, that by the persuasion of 
certain wicked Jews, they quickly stoned Paul, and left 
! him for dead, ver. 19. 



262 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, 

33 Q. How did Paul escape thence 1 

A. When his enemies were gone, he rose up and went 
with Barnabas through many cities where they had preached 
the gospel, to confirm the disciples ; and then they returned 
to Antioch in Syria, from whence they had been sent forth, 
and recommended to the grace of God, ver. 20, 27. 

34 Q. What new troubles arose while they were at An- 
tioch? 

A. Some Jewish Christians coming from Judea, taught 
the brethren that they could not be saved unless they were 
circumcised, and kept the law of Moses* Acts xv. 1. 

35 Q. How was this controversy determined 1 

A. Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to the 
apostles and elders about this question, ver. 2. 

Note. At this time Paul told Peter, James, and John, of the 
liberty of the gospel, or the freedom from all Jewish ceremonies, 
whicn he preached to the Gentiles, Gal. li. 1 — 9, and which he calls 
his gospel, being eminently the apostle of the Gentiles, Gal. ii. 7 — 9, 
and 1 Tim. ii: 7. 

36 Q. How did the apostles and elders decide it? 

A. First, Peter declared that the Gentiles had received' 
the gospel from his mouth as well as the Jews ; and there 
was now no difference between them, since God had de- 
clared his acceptance of them by giving them the Holy 
Spirit, and that without circumcision. Secondly, Barnabas 
and Paul rehearsed what wondrous success God had given 
to their ministry among the Gentiles, and what miracles 
were wrought among them. Then James delivered his opi- 
nion, that since the Gentiles had received the gospel, as it 
was foretold by the prophets, they should not be burdened 
with circumcision, and other Jewish ceremonies. Upon 
which, at last, the apostles and elders, and the whole church, 
sent a message to Antioch, and other countries, that the 
Gentile converts were not bound by the Jewish laws. Yet, 
by the direction of the Holy Spirit, they required them at 
that time to abstain from meats offered to idols, from eating 
blood, from things strangled, and from fornication, xv. 6 — 
30. 

37 Q. Why were these few things so particularly forbid- 
den to the Gentile converts'! 

A. Some suppose these were things always forbidden to 
the Jewish proselytes of the gate. (See Note on Q. 20.) 



AND SUFFERINGS. 263 

And that it would have given too much offence to the Jews, 
as well as to those proselytes, if the apostles had not re- 
quired the Gentile converts to observe these rules, at least 
for the present season. 

Note. Fornication was a thing always unlawful in itself, yet here 
other things are joined with it which are not sinful in their own na- 
ture ; because the eating of blood, and things offered to idols, were 
frequently attended with fornication and impurity among the Gentiles 
at their idolatrous feasts ; and therefore this sin of fornication is ex- 
pressly forbidden here, to put the Christians always in mind of the 
unlawfulness of it; and more particularly because some professed 
Christians in that age pretended it to be lawful, such as the Gnostics, 
Nicolaitans, &c. 

Abstinence from things offered to idols, seems to be but a temporary 
command for particular times and places; since it is permitted in 
some cases by the apostle, namely, where it gives no offence, 1 Cor. 
x. 19 — 31. And abstinence from blood, not being in itself unlawful, 
seems to stand on the same footing : for it is plain, that the reasons 
given against eating blood, is because it was devoted to God to make 
atonement for sin, Lev. xvii. 10 — 14. And the blood of beasts slain 
for food was to be poured out on the ground, because the life, or most 
noble part of the creature, was contained in it ; and was devoted to 
God, as a sort of first fruits, to sanctify the rest for the eater's use. 
But now, the blood of Christ having made full atonement for sin, and 
all sorts of food under the New Testament being sanctified to the 
eater by the word and prayer, 1 Tim. iv. 3 — 5. Blood has neither of 
these uses continued ; and therefore is one of those meats which may 
be eaten with thanksgiving, though it was forbidden at first for a sea- 
1 son, together with meats offered to idols, lest the Jews and proselytes 
should take offence. 

38 Q. What were the next travels of Paul and Barnabas] 
A. They determined to visit their brethren in every city 

where they had preached the gospel ; but they could not 
agree about taking John Mark for their assistant, because 
he had left them before in the middle of their woik, ver. 36, 
38. 

39 Q. How was this contention ended between Barnabas 
•and Paul? 

A. Barnabas took Mark, and sailed to Cyprus; Paul 
chose Silas, (who had been sent with them from Jerusalem 
to Antioch) and, being commended to God by the church, 
went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches, 
ver. 39—41. 

40 Q. Where did Paul meet with Timothy 1 
A. He was a young disciple at Lystra, the son of a Jew- 



264 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, 

ish woman, and Paul took him for their companion in the 
ministry ; and they travelled through many parts of that 
country which is now called the Lesser Asia, Acts xvi. 1— -8. 

Note. Asia is a large country, one quarter of the world. The 
Lesser Asia is the same with Natolia, a square country between the 
Euxine sea and the Mediterranean. But the Asia which the scrip- 
ture so frequently speaks of in the Acts, seems to be but a small 
part of this Lesser Asia, including only Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, and 
Lydia, which are washed on the west by the Jfegean sea, and where 
the famous seven churches were, Rev. i. 11. (See Wiltberger's 
Scripture Map.) 

A good map of the places mentioned in sacred, ecclesiastical, and 
profane history has been much wanting. This desideratum is about 
to be supplied by the laborious study of C. Wiltberger, Jun. whose ex- 
cellent map ought to be in the hands of ministers, superintendants 
and teachers of Sunday schools, and of all others who would read the 
scriptures with intelligence. 

41 Q,. Where was the next remarkable place of their 
ministry ! 

A. They were invited to Macedonia by a vision, and they 
went to Philippi, a chief city of that country, and preached 
there with some success, ver. 9 — 15. 

Note. Here it is probable that Luke, who wrote the Acts of the 
Apostles, became a companion of Paul, because from this time he uses 
the word we in his history. 

42 Q. What miracle was wrought here 1 

A. They cast a devil out of a certain young woman who 
brought much gain to her masters, by foretelling things to 
come, ver. 16 — 18. 

43 Q. How did her masters bear it when they saw their 
gains were gone 1 

A. They brought Paul and Silas to the magistrates, and 
charged them with teaching strange customs ; whereupon 
they were beaten and imprisoned, and their feet made fast 
in the stocks, ver. 19 — 24. / 

44 Q. How were they released thence 1 

A. At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises 
to God; the prison was shaken with an earthquake, the 
doors opened, their bands were loosed; upon which the 
gaoler awaking, was going to kill himself, supposing the 
prisoners had been fled, ver. 25 — 27. 

45 Q. How was this self-murder prevented 1 

\ A. Paul and Silas assured him of the safety of his prison- 



AND SUFFERINGS. 265 

ers, and preached the gospel to him ; upon which he be- 
lieved, and he and his house were baptized, ver. 28 — 34. 

46 Q. But did the magistrates then dismiss them ! 

A. Yes ; they desired them to depart when they knew 
they were Romans, because they had beaten and imprisoned 
them uncondemned, ver. 35 — 40. 

Note. Rome was at this time the mistress of the world ; and there- 
fore to be a Roman citizen was a great privilege. To subject such a 
person to an ignominious punishment was an offence against the ma- 
jesty of Rome, and hence would be severely resented by the govern- 
ment. With great wisdom, therefore, was Paul sent forth as the 
apostle to the Gentiles, his character as a Roman citizen would prove 
a powerful protection to him, Acts xxii. 25, &c. 

47 Q. What trials did they meet with at Thessalonica ? 
A. Many Greeks and Jews were converted there; but 

the unbelieving Jews rose up against them, and almost in 
every city where they came ; and they went next to Berea, 
Acts xvii. 1, 10. 

48 Q. What was the wise and generous conduct of the 
Bereans 1 

A. They, that is, the Jews of Berea, searched the scrip- 
tures daily, to find whether Paul and Silas taught the truth ; 
and by this practice, many of them were led to believe in 
Christ, ver. 10, 13. 

49 Q. In what manner did Paul preach, when he came 
to Athens 1 

A. He disputed with the Jews in their synagogues, with 
the devout persons, and with the heathen philosophers in 
the market place ; and on Mars' hill he took occasion to 
preach the true God to the people, from an altar he found 
inscribed, To the unknown God, ver. 16 — 30. 

50 Q. But did hie not also preach Jesus Christ and the 
gospel 1 

A. Yes ; by preaching natural religion first, he led them 

by degrees to the doctrine of Christ, and assured them that 

I Jesus Christ was appointed to be the judge of the world, 

and that God had raised him from the dead, as a sure token 

of it, ver. 30, 31. 

51 Q. What employment had Paul at Corinth'? 

A. He there met with Aquila, a believing Jew, and his 
: wife Priscilla, and wrought with him at his trade, for they 

Z 



266 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, 

were both tent-makers ; but he preached in the Jewish sy- 
nagogue every sabbath, Acts xviii. 1 — 4. 

52 Q. What effect had his preaching there % 

A. He continued there, by orders received from Christ in 
a vision, a year and six months ; and some Jews and many 
Gentiles believed, and were baptized, ver. 5 — 11. 

53 Q. What persecution did he meet with there % 

A. The Jews brought him before Gallio the deputy go- 
vernor, but he wisely refused to take cognizance of any of 
their controversies about religion, unless they could have 
charged him with some wickedness or injustice, ver. 12 — 
16. 

Note 1. Though Paul found such great and remarkable success in 
his ministry among the Corinthians, yet by the means of some false 
brethren, and some ambitious pretenders to apostleship, there were 
such factions and contentions raised in this church, that cost him much 
sorrow of heart. And this was increased by the irregular lives and 
immoral practices of some of his converts there, which occasioned his 
writing two large and excellent epistles to them. 

2. It is thought most probable that Paul, who went from Corinth to 
Cenchrea, and to Ephesus, left Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus, 
where they instructed Apollos, a fervent preacher, a disciple of John 
Baptist, in the gospel of Christ: but that Paul himself went to Jeru- 
salem to the feast, and returned to Ephesus again before Aquila went 
thence, and before his great success at Ephesus began ; which is re- 
lated in the very next chapter, namely, the xixth. 

54 Q. When Paul came to Ephesus, what remarkable 
occurrences did he meet with there 1 

A. He found some persons who were baptized only unto 
John's baptism, and he preached Jesus Christ to them, and 
they believed and were baptized in the name of Christ ; and 
when Paul laid his hands on them, they received the Holy 
Ghost, and spake with tongues, Acts xix. 1 — 7. 

55 Q. How did he perform the rest of his ministry there? 
A. Three months he preached the gospel in the Jewish 

synagogue ; but when the Jews were hardened against him, 
he taught the same gospel in the school of one Tyrannus 
for near two years, and healed many diseases, and cast out 
evil spirits, ver. 8 — 11. 

56 Q. Was he not persecuted by the heathens in this 
place ? 

A. When Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver 
shrines for the goddess Diana, (whose famous temple stood 
at Ephesus) found that the worship of the goddess declined 



AND SUFFERINGS. 267 

through Paul's preaching, he stirred up the men of his trade, 
and by them a multitude of people were raised against Paul, 
so that he was in danger of his life, ver. 24 — 29. 

57 Q. How did he escape here] 

A. The town clerk finding such a rude tumult, with soft 
words composed and quieted them, and bid Demetrius go 
fairly to law, if any man had injured him, ver. 29 — 41. The 
uproar being thus composed, Paul took his leave of the dis- 
ciples, and after several short journies and labours in the 
gospel in those parts, he came to Troas, Acts xx. 1 — 6. 

58 Q. Was there any thing of importance fell out in the 
seven days while Paul tarried at Troas 1 

A. Paul preached and broke bread on the first day of the 
week, and continuing his speech till midnight, a young man 
named Eutychus, slept and fell down from the third story, 
and was taken up dead, Acts xx. 6 — 9. 

59 Q. How was the young man recovered 1 

A. Paul fell on him, and embraced him, and brought him 
alive before them, ver. 10 — 12. 

60 Q. What exhortation did Paul give at Miletus? 

A. He sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the 
church, made a most affectionate discourse to them, bid 
them take heed to themselves, and to the church of God, 
which he had purchased with his own blood ; warned them 
of grievous wolves that should enter into the flock, encou- 
raged them to persevere in faith and holiness, and recom- 
mended them to God and the word of his grace, ver. 17 — 35. 

61 Q. Whither did Paul travel next? 

A. He hastened to Jerusalem by many journies and voy- 
ages, travelling through several cities, though he was dis- 
suaded from it by many disciples ; and was particularly told 
by Agabus, a Christian prophet, that he should be bound at 
Jerusalem and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles, Acts 
xx. 16, and xxi. 1 — 15. 

62 Q. In what manner did Agabus deliver this prophecy? 
A. He bound his own hands and feet with Paul's girdle, 

and said, Thus saitk the Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at 
Jerusalem bind the man that owns this girdle, ver. 11. 

63 Q. What was the noble speech and resolution of Paul 
on this occasion ? 

A. When the brethren wept at the thoughts of his suffer- 
ings, he answered, What mean ye, to weep and to break my 



268 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, 

heart 1 For I am ready not to be bound only, but to die at 
Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus, Acts xxi. 12, 13. 

64 Q. What was the first thing he did when he came to 
Jerusalem 1 

A. He went to James the apostle, and to the elders, and 
declared what God had wrought by his ministry among the 
Gentiles, Acts xxi. 17, 20. 

65 Q. What advice did the elders at Jerusalem give him? 
A. They advised him to shave and purify himself by an 

offering, after the manner of the Jews who had the vow of 
the Nazarite upon them, Numb. vi. that he might not be sus- 
pected of disobeying the Jewish law, either by the believing 
or unbelieving Jews, who were all zealous for it, ver. 20 — 25. 

Note. This compliance of St. Paul being recommended to him, 
by one apostle, namely, James, and by the elders at Jerusalem, Acts 
xxi. 18, 20, &c. and being put in practice by himself, who was, per- 
haps, the chief of the apostles, we cannot reasonably suppose it sinful 
or blameworthy, especially since the scripture passes no censure on 
it. And yet the religious ceremonies of the Jews, and particularly 
all the sin offerings (such as this was, Numb. vi. 14,) were abolished 
by the great sacrifice of Christ, and the introduction of Christianity by 
the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. In order therefore to vindicate this 
practice of St. Paul, we may consider the Jewish ceremonies under 
a two-fold aspect : 1. As they were part of their national laws, under 
God as their king; and, 2. As part of their religious worship, paid to 
him as their God. Now the Jewish state being not yet destroyed, 
may we not suppose that St. Paul might comply with the practice as 
a part of the national Jewish laws, rather than as religious worship ? 
For he every where declared the Gentiles to be free from them. 

Or if we consider these ceremonies only in their religious design, 
may we not suppose, that from the death of Christ, which was the 
substantial sacrifice, these- shadows so far vanished, that they ceased 
to be necessary, but were left for a season, as indifferent things to the 
Jews, which, as the apostle expresses, Heb. viii. 13, were decaying 
and waxing old, and ready to vanish away? May we not suppose 
the divine indulgence of them for a season, because of the weakness 
of mankind, who cannot easily bear a universal change of their ancient 
customs all at once ? and for this reason, lest the Jews should take too 
great offence, St. Paul took Timothy and circumcised him, in order to 
make him a preacher, since his mother was a Jewess, Acts xxi. 1, 3, 
this being a lawful thing to him, though not necessary. At the same 
time he would not have Titus circumcised, because he was a Gentile, 
and had nothing to do with the Jewish law, Gal. ii. 3. And the 
same apostle being a Jew, for the same reason might comply with 
the Jewish rites of shaving his head, and sacrificing, as things left in- 
different to the Jews for a season, by the will of God, in compliance 
with the weakness of man. 

The doctrine of justification by faith alone lies at the foundation of 



AND SUFFERINGS. 269 

the gospel; this the apostles always taught. But to insist upon the 
Gentiles conforming to the law of Moses, would lay the axe at the 
root of this doctrine. The same danger, however, was not to be ap- 
prehended from a continuance of the Jewish converts in their cus- 
toms : hence Paul suffered the last ; but would not permit the con- 
verted Gentiles to submit to the ceremonial law. (Gal. ii. 3—5, 11 — 
21.) 

66 Q. Did this piece of compliance secure Paul from the 
persecution of the Jews'? 

A. The unbelieving Jews had such a rooted hatred against 
him for his zeal and success in preaching" up Christianity, 
that they seized him under pretence of his having brought 
Greeks into the temple, though it was not true ; and they 
were ready to tear him to pieces, till the chief captain res- 
cued him, and gave him leave to give an account of himself 
to the multitude, ver. 27, 40. 

67 Q. What defence did Paul then make 1 

A. He gave them the history of his being a Jew by birth, 
and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, in Jerusalem ; of 
his former zeal against Christ, his being struck down to the 
ground on the road to Damascus, and called to from heaven 

• by Jesus Christ ; and also of his vision of Christ in the tem- 
ple, sending him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, Acts 

i xxii. 1—21. 

68 Q. How did the Jews bear this speech? 

; A. When he spake of being sent to the Gentiles, they 
lifted up their voices and said, Away with such a felloxo 
from the earth, for it is not fit he should live, ver. 22. 

69 Q. How was he secured from their rage? 

A. The chief captain again took him and brought him 
| into the castle, and the next day he ordered the chief priests 
and the council to appear, that Paul might give an account 
j of himself to them, ver. 24—30. 

70 Q. How did Paul plead his own cause here before the 
' council 1 

A. He found one part was Sadducees, who denied the 
resurrection, and the. other part Pharisees, believed it ; and 
j therefore he shrewdly, and yet truly declared, It is for the 
hope of the resurrection of the dead lam called in question. 
For indeed the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and our 
resurrection by him, were some of the greatest articles of 
j the Christian faith, and that which Paul preached, Acts 
xxiii. 6, 7. 

z 2 



270 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, 

71 Q. What effect had this upon the council? 

A. They fell into contention among themselves, and the 
Pharisees said, they found no evil in him. And again the 
chief captain secured him in the castle, ver. 9, 10. 

Note. It is a characteristic of enthusiasm to court persecution ; 
but a man of sober piety will have recourse to every justifiable means 
to avoid it. Paul's employing this lawful expedient to save his life, 
clearly shows that he was no enthusiast. He was willing even to die 
when the cause of Christ could be benefited by it; but not to en- 
dure imnecessary sufferings. The first is the duty of the Christian; 
the last savours of fanaticism. (See Lord Lyttleton's Essay on the 
Conversion of St. Paul.) 

72 Q. What particular encouragement had Paul from 
heaven under these sufferings 1 

A. It was this night that the Lord Jesus appeared to him, 
and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified 
of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome, 
Acts xxiii. 11. 

73 Q. What was the next danger he was exposed to ] 

A. More than forty Jews had bound themselves under a 
great curse, not to eat till they had killed Paul ; and there- 
fore they persuaded the chief priests and elders, to desire 
that he might once again be brought before them, ver. 12 
—15. 

74 Q. By what means did the providence of God secure 
Paul from this conspiracy 1 

A. Claudius Lysias, the chief captain, having private 
notice of this conspiracy from Paul's nephew, sent him to 
Cesarea, to Felix the governor of Judea, by night, with a 
guard of almost five hundred men, ver. 16—35. 

75 Q. What was the next step taken by the high priests 
and elders to condemn Paul, and how did Paul defend himself? 

A. They went down to Cesarea, and laid their accusation 
before Felix. But Paul defended himself, by declaring he 
believed the laio and the prophets; nor was he guilty of 
profaning the temple, or raising a tumult, nor of any thing 
of which they accused him, Acts xxiv. 1 — 21. 

76 Q. What did Felix determine concerning him 1 

A. Felix only kept him as a prisoner, for he saw no rea- 
son to condemn him ; and often discoursed with him, hoping 
that Paul or his friends would give him a large bribe for a 
release, ver. 22 — 28. 



AND SUFFERINGS. 271 

77 Q. Had Paul's discourse any good effect upon Felix 1 
A. Once, as he spoke concerning faith in Christ, and 

reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to 
come, Felix trembled, and bid Paul retire till he had a more 
convenient season to hear him further, ver. 24, 25. But he 
kept him prisoner still, to please the Jews, ver. 27. 

78 Q. Did the high priests and elders entirely drop their 
accusations against Paul ? 

A. Two years after this, Festus was made governor in 
the room of Felix, and the Jews went to Cesarea, and laid 
grievous complaints against him, Acts xxiv. 27, and chap, 
xxv. 2. 

79 Q. How did Paul come off before Festus 1 

A. He utterly denied the charge of the Jews. And when 
Festus would have had him go up to Jerusalem to be judged 
of these matters, as the Jews desired, in hopes to kill him by 
the way, Paul told Festus, that he knew very well he had 
done the Jews no wrong, that no man ought to deliver him 
up to the hands of the Jews, and therefore he appealed to 
Caesar, ver. 9 — 12. 

80 Q. What occasion had Paul then to plead his cause 
again before Agrippa, who was the king of Galilee ] 

A. Agrippa, with his sister Bernice, came to make a visit 
to Festus ; upon which Festus, among other conversation, 
informed him that he was going to send Paul, the prisoner, 
to Csesar, upon his appeal, and he would fain send to Caesar 
a more particular account of the case ; upon which Agrippa 
desired to hear Paul himself, ver. 13 — 27. 

81 Q. What was the substance of Paul's speech to 
Agrippa ? 

A. Paul knew that Agrippa was acquainted with the laws 
and customs of the Jews, and therefore he related before him, 
in brief, the history of his younger life as a Pharisee ; his 
hatred of the Christians ; his being called by Jesus Christ, 
from heaven, when he was on the road to Damascus ; and 
his preaching the resurrection of Christ and his gospel, ever 
since ; which he maintained to be all agreeable to Moses 
and the prophets, Acts xxvi. 1 — 23. 

82 Q. What influence had this speech upon Agrippa? 

A. Paul addressed king Agrippa in so convincing a man- 
ner, that Agrippa declared he was almost persuaded to be a 
Christian ; and that Paul had done nothing worthy of death, 



272 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, 

or of bonds ; and that he might have been set at liberty, if 
he had not appealed to Cajsar, ver. 26, 32. 

83 Q. How was Paul sent to Ccesar at Rome ? 

A. He was sent thither by sea, with several other pri- 
soners, and soldiers to guard them. They had a voyage of 
the utmost danger, through storms and dark weather which 
Paul foresaw, and warned the sailors of it. They were at 
last shipwrecked, but all escaped safe to land, aa Paul had 
assured them by a vision of an angel. The name of the 
island was called Melita, now Malta, Acts xxvii. 

84 Q. Was there any remarkable occurrence fell out 
there] 

A. The rain and the cold made them kindle a fire, and 
there came a viper from among the sticks, and fastened on 
Paul's hand ; but he shook it off, and felt no harm, Acts 
xxviii. 1 — 5. 

85 Q. What did the barbarous people of the island think 
of this when they saw it 1 

A. They thought at first that Paul was a murderer, and 
vengeance pursued him at land, though he had escaped the 
sea. But when they saw him shake off the viper, and no 
harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said he 
was a God, ver. 4 — 6. 

86 Q. What entertainment did they meet with upon this 
island ? 

A. Publius, the chief man there, lodged them three days. 
Paul prayed, and healed his father of a bloody flux, by lay- 
ing on his hands ; upon which many other diseased persons 
came and were healed, ver. 7 — 9. 

87 Q. How long did they tarry there 1 

A. They tarried three months, because it was winter; 
were treated with great respect and kindness by the inha- 
bitants, and then sailed again, and landed in Italy, and tra- 
velled towards Rome, ver. 11, 13. 

88 Q. How was Paul disposed of when he came into the 
city? 

A. He was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier 
that kept him, ver. 16. 

89 Q. What was Paul's first work when he came to 
Rome? 

A. In three days' time he sent for the chief of the Jews 
that were in the city, and excused himself to them of all 



AND SUFFERINGS. 273 

design to accuse his nation, but that he was constrained to 
appeal unto Csesar to save his own life ; and afterwards, on 
a day appointed, he preached the gospel of Christ to them 
out of the law of Moses and the prophets, ver. 17 — 23. 

90 Q. What effect had this sermon of Paul on the Jews 
at Rome? 

A. They were much divided ; some believed the gospel, 
and others opposed it ; upon which Paul answered, That the 
salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles, and they loill hear 
it, ver. 24—28. 

91 Q. How long did Paul continue there? 

A. He dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, 
and preached the things concerning Christ to all that would 
come to hear him, ver. 29 — 31. 

Note. Here ends the history of the book of scripture, called the 
Acts of the Apostles. What remains is collected from the epistles 
of Paul, which furnish but few new facts ; though they abundantly 
confirm what is related in the Acts. (See Paley's Horse Paulinae.) 

92 Q. Since several of the epistles of Paul are said to 
be written from Rome, which are those he is supposed to 

1 write at this time ? 

I A. Those to the Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and 

I to Philemon ; and he tells them, he shall soon come to them : 

and about this time his bonds were manifest in all the palace, 

having continued there so long, Phil. i. 13, 26. Eph. vi. 20. 

Col. iv. 18. Philem. 9, 22. 

93 Q. When he was released from prison at Rome, whi- 
ther did he go ? 

A. Into several countries both of Europe and Asia, preach- 
ing the gospel, and confirming the Christian converts. 

94 Q. Who attended and assisted him in his ministry and 
his travels I 

A. Sometimes Tychicus, or Timothy ; sometimes Titus, 
Demas, or Luke, Silas, or Trophimus, whom he left sick at 
Miletus when he went again to Rome. (See 2 Tim. iv. 10 — 
12.) 

95 Q. What became of him when he came the second 
time to Rome 1 

A. He was cast into close prison, and when he made 
his first defence all men forsook him ; and Alexander the 
coppersmith did him much hurt, 2 Tim. iv. 14 — 16. 

96 Q. Did he finish his life and labours here? 



274 ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS, LABOURS, &c 

A. He now tells Timothy, that the time of his departure 
is at hand, and he was just ready to be offered up, when he 
wrote the second epistle to him from Rome, 2 Tim. iv. 
And when he had both laboured and suffered more than any 
of the apostles, as he himself had told us, 1 Cor. xv. 10. 
2 Cor. xi. 23, &c. he was beheaded near the city as a martyr 
for Christ, under the reign of Nero, emperor of Rome, as 
the ancient historians inform us. 

&CT My design in writing this summary of Scrtpture History, 
by way of Question and Answer, was chiefly for the easier instruc- 
tion of the younger part of mankind, and not so much for the im- 
provement of the learned ; for which reason I have not been solici- 
tous to trace out, with a critical and chronological accuracy, every fact 
and circumstance recorded in Holy Writ, as, for example, those of 
the Saviour's Resurrection, Paul's Travels, &c. (For a more particu- 
lar account see Kimpton's Bible History, West on the Resurrection, 
Scott's Bible, &c.) 

The principal thing I had in view from the beginning to the end 
of this work, was to set down some of the most necessary and the 
most important matters of fact recorded in scripture ; amongst which 
I have chosen out those which would be most entertaining to 
younger minds, and would make the deepest and most lasting im- 
pression upon them, and such as would lead them into a survey of 
the various and wonderful transactions of the providence and grace 
of God among men ; the successive and gradual discoveries of the will 
of God to men; the different forms of religion in different ages of 
mankind; the rules of duty toward God and toward one another; to- 
gether with an account of their obedience or disobedience to him, 
with their blessings and their punishments, their afflictions, trials, and 
deliverances, and that from the beginning of the world to the promul- 
gation of the gospel by the apostles in the first age of the Christian 
church. And this is as far as the history of the scripture reaches. 



AN 

ACCOUNT 

OF THE 

DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM, 

r 

ESTABLISHING 

THE DIVINE ORIGIN 

OF 

CHRISTIANITY: 

INCLUDING 

SA NARRATIVE OF THE CALAMITIES WHICH BEFEL THE JEWS, SO FAR 
AS THEY TEND TO VERIFY OUR LORD'S PREDICTIONS 
RELATIVE TO THAT EVENT. 

| 

I consider the prophecy relative to the destruction of the Jewish na 
tion, if there were nothing else to support Christianity, as absolutely 
J irresistible." — Mr. Erskine's speech at the Trial of Williams for publishing 
fl Paine's Age of Reason. 



The whole carefully Revised afid Corrected ; with Notes, 

BY THE REV. B. P. AYDELOTT, M. D. 

Rector of Grace Church, Philadelphia. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY M'CARTY & DAVIS, 

NO. 171 MARKET STREET. 

1832. 



NOTICE. 

The following Dissertation, written by an English author, it was 
thought would form a proper and agreeable close to Dr. Watts' 
Scripture History, the objects of both being the same — to edify and to 
convince. 

Such changes and additions have been made in the piece as would 
best adapt it to the present edition. 

Philadelphia, 1828. THE EDITOR. 

278 



PREFACE. 



History records few events more generally inte- 
resting than the destruction of Jerusalem, and the sub- 
version of the Jewish state, by the arms of the Ro- 
mans. Their intimate connexion with the dissolution 
of the levitical economy, and the establishment of 
Christianity in the world ; the striking verification 
which they afford of so many of the prophecies, both 
of the Old and New Testaments, and the powerful 
arguments for the divine authority of the scriptures 
which are thence derived ; the solemn warning and 
admonitions which they hold out to all nations, but 
especially to such as are favoured with the light and 
blessings of Revelation; together with the impressive 
and terrific grandeur of the events themselves— are 
circumstances which must always insure to the subject 
of the following pages, more 'than ordinary degrees 
of interest and importance. Many eminent and learned 
men have employed their pens in the illustration of 
it ; but the fruits of their labours are, for the most 
part, contained in large and expensive works, out of 
the reach of numbers, to whom the discussion might 
prove equally interesting and improving. For the 
use and gratification of such, the present Treatise, in a 
more accessible and familiar form, is diffidently offer- 
ed to the public. In order that it might be better 
adapted for the general reader, critical inquiries and 

279 



380 PREFACE, 

tedious details are equally avoided; but it has been 
the care of the writer not to omit any important lact 
or argument that, in his opinion, tended to elucidate 
the subject. Countenanced by the example of many 
respectable names, he has ventured to introduce the 
extraordinary prodigies, which, according to Jose- 
phus, preceded the destruction of the Holy City. 

Upon the execution of the tract, generally, the pub- 
lic will determine. Usefulness is the writer's main 
object; and if a perusal of it shall contribute, under 
the divine blessing, to confirm the wavering faith of 
only one Christian, or to shake the vain confidence 
of a single unbeliever, his labour will be abundantly 
rewarded. 



THE 



DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 



The goodness of God stamps all his proceedings. It has 
pleased him not only to communicate to mankind a revela- 
tion, which, to the pious mind, bears in its internal texture 
its own evidence and recommendation, but also to accom- 
pany it with such external proofs of a sacred origin, as seem 
calculated to strike, with irresistible conviction, even those 
who are least disposed to admit the truth of the Holy Scrip- 
tures. In order to evidence their divine authenticity, God 
has done as much as man could possibly have required.* 
For supposing that it had been referred to mankind to have 
prescribed for their own satisfaction, and that of their pos- 
terity, the credentials which His messengers should bring 
with them, in order to authenticate the divinity of their 
mission, could the wisest and most sceptical amongst men 
have proposed, for this end, any thing more conclusive than, 

First, Demonstrations of power, surpassing every possible 
effect of human skill and report; and, 

Second, Intelligence relative to the future events and 
circumstances of nations and individuals, which no human 
sagacity would ever pretend to foresee or predict I 

If such had been the evidences demanded, what addition 
j to them could possibly have been suggested 1 Is it in the 
\ human mind to imagine any tests of divine authority better 
adapted, sooner or later, to expose the artifices, and frustrate 
! the designs, of an impostor] In vain will the profoundest 
, policy attempt to discover means more suitable to this pur- 

* This assertion is sufficient for the writer's purpose. The fact, 
I however, is, that the Almighty hath, in this respect, as well as in every 
! other, done for man " exceeding ahmdantty above all that" he can " ask 
or think." The scheme of that evidence which demonstrates the di- 
vine authority of the Bible, could only haVe been constructed by Him 
" who knoweth all things, and who seeth the tndfrom the beginning" 

281 



282 EVIDENCES OF SCRIPTURE REVELATION. 

pose, and, with respect to the reception of the revelation it- 
self, more perfectly fitted to banish all reasonable doubt on 
the one hand, and to invalidate the charge of credulity on 
the other. Now these, precisely, are the credentials with 
which it has pleased God to sanction the testimony of his 
inspired messengers, as recorded in the scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments. They icrought miracles : they 
foretold future events. Thus all that man himself could 
demand has been given, and objectors are left entirely 
without excuse. 

Jesus Christ, the principal of those messengers, like his 
illustrious types and predecessors Moses and Elijah, pro- 
claimed and attested his divine mission at once by miracu- 
lous acts, and by prophetic declarations. His miracles were 
numerous, diversified, and performed in various parts of his 
native country : they were not frivolous tricks, calculated 
merely to excite wonder, and gratify curiosity, but acts of 
substantial utility and benevolence. They were publicly, 
but not boastingly nor ostentatiously displayed : in the pre- 
sence not of friends only, but also of enemies — of enemies 
exasperated to malignity against him, because he bad cen- 
sured their vices and exposed their hypocrisy, and who 
were actuated by every motive which a spirit of revenge 
could suggest to incurable prejudice, to induce them to de- 
tect the imposition of his miracles, if 'false, and to deny and 
discredit them, if true. To deny them they did not attempt, 
but they strove to sink them in disrepute, and thereby fur- 
nished a striking specimen of those embarrassing dilemmas, 
into which infidelity is continually betraying her votaries. 
They ascribed them to the agency of Satan ; thus repre- 
senting him, " who was a liar from the beginning" as con- 
tributing to the diffusion of truth — " the spirit that workelh 
in the children of disobedience 1 '' as promoting the cause of 
holiness, and as co-operating in the overthrow of his own 
kingdom, with him u who urns manifested to destroy the 
loorks of the devil!" 

The prophecies of our Lord, as well as his miracles, were 
many, and of great variety. They were not delivered with 
pomp and parade, but rose out of occasions, and seem to 
have resulted, tor the most part, from his affectionate solici- 
tude for those who then were, or who might afterwards be- 
come, his disciples. While the fulfilment of some of these 



DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 283 

predictions was confined to the term of his mission and the 
limits of his country, the accomplishment of others extended 
to all nations, and to every future age of the world. 

Of the prophecies which have already been fulfilled, few, 
perhaps, are so interesting in themselves, or so striking in 
their accomplishment, as those which relate to the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem and its temple, and the signal calamities 
which every where befel the Jewish nation. The chief of 
our Lord's predictions, relative to these events, are con- 
tained in Matt. xxiv. Mark xiii. Luke xix. 41 — 44; xxi. 
and xxiii. 27 — 30 ; and we may with confidence appeal to 
the facts which verify them, as conclusive and incontrovert- 
ible proofs of the divinity of his mission. Before, however, 
we enter upon this illustration, it may be gratifying to the 
reader, and add considerably to the interest of many of the 
subsequent pages, to give in this place a brief description 
of that renowned city and its temple. 

Jerusalem was built on two mountains. Three celebrated 

walls surrounded the city on every side, except that which 

i was deemed inaccessible, and there it was defended by one 

wall only. The most ancient of these walls was remark- 

| able for its great strength, and was, moreover, erected on a 

hanging rock, and fortified by sixty towers. On the mid- 

| die wall there were fourteen towers only ; but on the third, 

which was also distinguished by the extraordinary merit of 

its architecture, there were no less than ninety. The cele- 

; brated tower of Psephinos, before which Titus at first encamp- 

1 ed, was erected on this latter wall, and even excelled it in 

': the superior style of its architecture : it was seventy cubits 

high, and had eight angles, each of which commanded most 

extensive and beautiful prospects. In clear weather, the 

I spectator had from them a view of the Mediterranean sea, 

of Arabia, and of the whole extent of the Jewish dominions. 

Besides this there were three other towers of great magni- 

! t.ude, named Hippocos, Phasael, and Mariamne. — The two 

i former, famed for their strength and grandeur, were near 

j ninety cubits high ; the latter, for its valuable curiosities, 

| beauty, and elegance, was about fifty-five cubits. They 

I were all built of white marble ; and so exquisite was the 

workmanship, that each of them appeared as if it had been 

I hewn out of an immense single block of it Notwithstand- 

1 ing their great elevation, they yet must have appeared, from 



284 DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE. 

the surrounding country, far loftier than they really were. 
The old wall, it has just been remarked, was built upon a 
high rock ; but these towers were erected on the top of a 
hill, the summit of which was itself thirty cubits above the 
top of the old wall ! Such edifices, so situated, it is easy to 
conceive, must have given to the city a ve?y great degree 
of grandeur and magnificence. Not far distant from these 
towers stood the royal palace, of singular beauty and ele- 
gance. Its pillars, its porticoes, its galleries, its apartments, 
were all incredibly costly, splendid, and superb ; while the 
groves, gardens, walks, fountains, and aqueducts, with which 
it was encompassed, formed the richest and most delightful 
scenery that can possibly be imagined. The situation of 
these structures was on the north side of Jerusalem. Its 
celebrated temple, and the strong fort of Antonia, were on 
the east side, and directly opposite to the mount of Olives. 
This fort was built on a rock fifty cubits in height, and so 
steep as to be inaccessible on every side ; and to render it 
still more so, it was faced with thin slabs of marble, which, 
being slippery, proved at once a defence and an ornament. 
In the midst of the fort stood the castle of Antonia, the in- 
terior parts of which, for grandeur, slate, and convenience, 
resembled more a palace than a fortress. Viewed from a 
distance it had the appearance of a tower, encompassed by 
four other towers, situated at the four angles of a square. 
Of these latter, three were fifty cubits high, and the fourth 
seventy cubits. 

The tower last mentioned commanded an excellent view 
of the whole temple, the riches, grandeur, and elegance of • 
which, it is not in the power of language to describe. Whe- 
ther we consider its architecture, its dimensions, its magni- 
ficence, its splendour, or the sacred purposes to which it 
was dedicated, it must equally be regarded as the most as- 
tonishing fabric that was ever constructed. It was erected 
partly on a solid rock, which was originally steep on every 
side. The foundations, of what was called the lower tem- 
ple, were three hundred cubits in depth, and the stones of 
which they were composed, more than sixty feet in length, 
while the superstructure contained, of the whitest marble, 
stones nearly sixty-eight feet long, more than seven feet 
high, and nine broad. The circuit of the whole building was 
four furlongs ; its height one hundred cubits; one hundred 



DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE. 285 

and sixty pillars, each twenty-seven feet high, ornamented 
and sustained the immense and ponderous edifice. In the 
front, spacious and lofty galleries, wainscoted with cedar, 
were supported by columns of white marble, in uniform rows. 
In short, says Josephus, nothing could surpass even the ex- 
terior of this temple, for its elegant and curious workmanship. 
It was adorned with solid plates of gold, that rivalled the 
beauty of the rising sun, and were scarcely less dazzling to 
the eye than the beams of that luminary. Of those parts 
of the building which were not gilt, when viewed from 
a distance, some, says he, appeared like pillars of snow, and 
some like mountains ofichite marble. The splendour of the 
interior parts of the temple, corresponded with its external 
magnificence. It was decorated and enriched by every 
thing that was costly, elegant, and superb. Religious do- 
nations and offerings, had poured into this wonderful reposi- 
tory of precious stores, from every part of the world, during 
many successive ages. In the lower temple was placed 
those sacred curiosities, the seven-branched candlestick of 
pure gold, the table for the shew-bread, and the altar of in- 
cense ; the two latter of which w T ere covered over with 
plates of the same metal. In the sanctuary were several 
doors, fifty-five cubits high, and sixteen in breadth, which 
were all likewise of gold. Before these doors hung a veil 
of the most beautiful Babylonian tapestry, composed of scar- 
let, blue, and purple, exquisitely interwoven, and wrought 
up to the highest degree of art. From the top of the ceiling 
depended branches and leaves of vines, and large clusters 
of grapes hanging down five or six feet, all of gold, and of 
most admirable workmanship. In addition to these proofs 
of the splendour and riches of the temple, may be noticed 
its eastern gate of pure Corinthian brass, more esteemed 
even than the precious metals — the golden folding-doors of 
the chambers — the beautiful carved work, gilding, and 
painting, of the galleries — the golden vessels, &c. of the 
sanctuary, the sacerdotal vestments of scarlet, violet, and 
purple — the vast wealth of the treasury — abundance of pre- 
cious stones, and immense quantities of all kinds of costly 
spices and perfumes. In short, the most valuable and 
sumptuous of whatever nature, or art, or opulence could 
supply, was enclosed within the consecrated walls of this 
magnificent and venerable edifice. 



286 OUR LORD'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 

So much concerning this celebrated city, and its still more 
celebrated temple. We shall now consider our Lord's pro- 
phecies relating to their destruction. 

On the Monday immediately preceding his crucifixion, 
our blessed Saviour made his public and triumphant entry 
into Jerusalem, amidst the acclamations of a very great 
multitude of iiis disciples, who hailed him King of Sion, 
and with palm branches, the emblems of victory, in their 
hands, rejoiced and gave praises to God for all the mighty 
works that they had seen, singing " Hosanna ! blessed be 
the King that cometh in the name of the Lord! Peace in 
heaven, and glory in the highest /" But while the people 
thus exulted and triumphantly congratulated their Messiah, 
he struggling with the deepest emotions of pity' and com- 
passion for Jerusalem, beheld the city and wept, over it, say- 
ing, " If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy 
day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they 
are hid from thine eyes ; for the days shall come upon thee, 
that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and com- 
pass thee round, and keep thee in on every side ; and shall 
lay thee even xoith the ground, and thy children within thee : 
and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another ; 
because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."* On 
the Wednesday following, being only two days before his 
death, he went for the last time into the temple to teach 
the people : while he was thus employed, the high priests 
and ,the elders, the Herodians, Sadducees, and Pharisees, 
successively came to him, and questioned him with subtilty, 
being desirous to M entangle him in his talk ;" to whom, 
with his accustomed dignity and wisdom, he returned an- 
swers which carried conviction to their hearts, and at once 
silenced and astonished them. Then, turning to his disci- 
ples, and the whole multitude, he addressed to thorn a dis- 
course of very uncommon energy? in which, with most ex- 
quisite keenness of reproof, he exposed and condemned the 
cruelty and pride, the hypocrisy and sensuality of the Pha- 
risees and scribes. Having next foretold the barbarous 
treatment which his apostles would receive at their hands, 
he proceeded to denounce against Jerusalem the dire and 
heavy vengeance, that had for ages been accumulating in 
the vials of divine displeasure, expressly declaring, that it 
* Luke xix. A-:—U 



OVERTHROW OF Tin; CITY, &c. 287 

should be poured out upon the then existing generation, 

adding that inimitably tender and pathetic apostrophe to 
this devoted city, " O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! thou thai 

killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, 
hov) often would I have gathered thy children together, even 
as a hen g Other eth her chickens under her tmngs, and ye 
would not ! Behold! your house is left unto you desolate ; 
for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye 
shall say, Blessed is he that Cometh in the name of the 
Lord!"* Having said this, he went out of the temple, and, 
as he departed, his disciples drew 'his attention to the won- 
derful magnitude and splendour of the edifice. They spake, 
M how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts , and 
said unto him, u Master, see what manner of stones and 
buildings are here I And Jesus said unto them, See ye not 
all these things ? Verily I say unto you, there shall not Deleft 
here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.'''' 
When we consider the antiquity and sanctity of the temple, 
its stupendous fabric, its solidity, and the uncommon mag- 
nitude of the stones of which it was composed, we may, in 
some measure, conceive of the amazement which this de- 
claration of our Lord must have excited in the minds of 
his disciples. Nevertheless, this remarkable prediction, as 
we shall see in the sequel, was literally fulfilled, and as our 
Lord had foretold, even during the existence of the genera- 
tion to which he addressed it 

Our Lord now retired to the mount of Olives, to which 
place the disciples followed him, in order to make more par- 
ticular inquiries relative to the time when the calamitous 
events, foretold by hirn, would come to pass. We have al- 
ready intimated that the mount of Olives commanded a full 
view of Jerusalem and the temple. No situation, therefore, 
could have been better adapted to give energy to a predic- 
tion, which related chiefly to their total ruin and demolition; 
and if we supoose (and the supposition is highly probable) 
that our Lord, while in the act of speaking, pointed to the 
majestic and stupendous edifices, whose destruction he fore- 
told, every word which he then uttered must have been 
clothed with inexpressible sublimity, and derived from the 
circumstances of the surrounding scenery, a force and effect, 
which it is not possible adequately to conceive. 
* Matt, xxiii. 37—39. 



288 OF THE FALSE MESSIAHS, &c. 

" Tell us, when shall these things be ? and what shall be 
the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled ?" Such 
were the questions of the disciples, in answer to which our 
Lord condescended to give them a particular account of the 
several important events that would precede, as well as of 
the prognostics which would announce the approaching de- 
solations; including suitable directions for the regulation 
of their conduct under the various trials to which they were 
to be exposed. He commences with a caution; " Take 
heed" says he, " that no man deceive you ; for many shall 
come in my name, saying, 1 am Christ, and shall deceive 
many." The necessity for this friendly warning soon ap- 
peared ; for within one year after our Lord's ascension, rose 
Dositheus the Samaritan, who had the boldness to assert 
that he was the Messiah, of whom Moses prophesied ; while 
his disciple Simon Magus deluded multitudes in a belief 
that he himself was the great power of God. About three 
years afterwards another Samaritan impostor appeared, and 
declared that he would show the people the sacred utensils, 
said to have been deposited by Moses in mount Gerizim. 
Induced by an idea that the Messiah, their great deliverer, 
was now come, an armed multitude assembled under him, 
but Pilate speedily defeated them, and slew their chief. 
While Cuspius Fadus was procurator in Judea, another de- 
ceiver arose, whose name was Theudas.* This man actu- 
ally succeeded so far as to persuade a very great multitude 
to take their effects and follow him to Jordan, assuring them, 
that the river would divide at his command. Fadus, how- 
ever, pursued them with a troop of horse, and slew many of 
them, and among the rest the impostor himself, whose head 
was cut off and carried to Jerusalem. Under the govern- 
ment of Felix, deceivers rose up daily in Judea, and per- 
suaded the people to follow them into the wilderness, assur- 
ing them that they should there behold conspicuous signs 
and wonders performed by the Almighty. Of these, Felix, 
from time to time, apprehended many, and put them to death. 
About this period (A. D. 55,) arose Felix, the celebrated 
Egyptian impostor, who collected thirty thousand followers, 
and persuaded them to accompany him to the mount of 
Olives* telling them that from thence they should see the 
walls of Jerusalem fall down at his command, as a prelude 

* This is not the Thenda^ mentioned by Gamaliel, Acts v. 36. 



WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS. 28£ 

to the capture of the Roman garrison, and to their obtaining 
the sovereignty of the city. The Roman governor, how- 
ever, apprehending this to be the beginning of a revolt, im- 
mediately attacked t}iem, slew four hundred of them, and 
dispersed the rest; but the Egyptian effected his escape. 
In the time of Porcius Festus (A. D. 60,) another distin- 
guished impostor seduced the people, by promising them 
deliverance from the Roman yoke, if they would follow him 
into the wilderness ; but Festus sent out an armed force, 
which speedily destroyed both the deceiver and his follow- 
ers. In short, impostors, pretending to a divine commission, 
continually and fatally deceived the people, and at once 
justified the caution, and fulfilled the prediction of our 
Lord. 

If it be objected that none of these impostors, except Do- 
sitheus, assumed the name of Messiah, we reply, that the 
grovelling expectation of the Jews was directed to a Mes- 
siah who should merely deliver them from the Roman yoke, 
and " restore the kingdom to Jerusalem;" and such were 
the pretensions of these deceivers. This expectation, in- 
deed, is the only true solution of these strange and repeated 
insurrections; which will naturally remind the reader of 
the following prophetic expressions of our Lord : "lam 
come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not ; if ano- 
ther shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." " If 
they shall say unto you, behold he is in the desert, go not 
forth. They will show* (or pretend to show) great signs 
and wonders," &c. 

Our Saviour thus proceeded : " And ye shall hear of 
wars, and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: 
for all these things must come to pass, but the end, is not yet, 
for nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against 
kingdom, and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and 
famines, and pestilences ; all these are the beginning of 
sorrows."^ 

" Wars and rumours of wars," &c. These commotions, 
i like distant thunder, that forebodes the approaching storm, 
" At first heard solemn o'er the verge of heaven," 

* The original word signifies " give ;" and that, in scripture lan- 
guage, there is a clear distinction betwixt giving a sign, and the sign 
itself, is sufficiently proved by Deut. xiii. 1, 2. 
i t Matt. xxiv. 6—8. Luke xxi. 11. * 

2B 



290 WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS. 

were so frequent from the death of our Lord until the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, that the whole interval might, with 
propriety, be appealed to in illustration of this prophecy, 
One hundred and fifty of the copious pages of Josephus, 
which contain the history of this period, are every where 
stained with blood. To particularize in a few instances: 
About three years after the death of Christ, a war broke 
out between Herod and Aretas, king of Arabia Petruea, in 
which the army of the former was cut off. This was 
" kingdom rising against kingdom." Wars are usually 
preceded by rumours. It may, therefore, appear absurd to 
attempt a distinct elucidation of this part of the prophecy ; 
nevertheless, it ought not to be omitted, that about this 
time the emperor Caligula, having ordered his statue to be 
placed in the temple of Jerusalem, and the Jews having 
persisted to refuse him, the whole nation were so much 
alarmed, by the mere apprehension of war, that they neg- 
lected even to till their lands! The storm, however, blew 
over. 

About this period a great number of Jews, on account of 
a pestilence which raged at Babylon, removed from that city 
to Selucia, where the Greeks and Syrians rose against them, 
and destroyed of this devoted people more than five myriads! 
" The extent of this slaughter," says Josephus, " had no 
parallel in any former period of their history." Again, about 
five years after this dreadful massacre, there happened a se- 
vere contest between the Jews at Perea, and the Philadel- 
phians, respecting the limits of a city called Mia, in which 
many of the former were slain. This was " nation rising 
up against nation." Four years afterwards, under Cimia- 
nus, an indignity was offered to the Jews within the pre- 
cincts of the temple, by a Roman soldier, which they vio- 
lently resented ; but upon the approach of the Romans in 
great force, their terror was so excessive, and so disorderly 
and precipitate their flight, that not less than ten thousand 
Jews were trodden to death in the streets. This, again, 
was " nation, rising up against nation." Four years more 
had not elapsed, before the Jews made war against the Sa- 
maritans, and ravaged their country. The people of Sama- 
ria had murdered a Galilean, who was going up to Jerusa- 
lem to keep the passover, and the Jews thus revenged it. 
At Coesarea, the Jews having had a sharp contention with 



WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS. 291 

the Syrians for the government of the city, an appeal was 
made to Nero, who decreed it to the Syrians. This event 
laid the foundation of a most cruel and sanguinary contest 
between the two nations. The Jews, mortified by disap- 
pointment, and inflamed by jealousy, rose against the Syri- 
ans, who successfully repelled them. In the city of Caisa- 
rea alone, upwards of twenty thousand Jews were slain. 
The flame, however, was not now quenched ; it spread its 
destructive rage wherever the Jews and Syrians dwelt to- 
gether in the same place; throughout every city, town, and 
village, mutual animosity and slaughter prevailed. At Da- 
mascus, Tyre, Ascalon, Gadara, and Scythopolis, the car- 
nage was dreadful. At the first of these cities ten thousand 
Jews were slain in one hour, and at Scythopolis thirteen 
thousand treacherously in one night. At Alexandria, the 
Jews, aggrieved by the oppressions of the Romans, rose 
against them ; but the Romans gaining the ascendancy, 
slew of that nation fifty thousand persons, sparing neither 
infants nor the aged. And after this, at the siege of Jota- 
pata, not less than forty thousand Jews perished. While 
these destructive contests prevailed in the east, the western 
parts of the Roman empire were rent by the fierce con- 
tentions of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius; of which three em- 
perors, it is remarkable, that they all, together with Nero, 
their immediate predecessor, died a violent death, within 
the short space of eighteen months. Finally, the whole 
nation of the Jews took up arms against the Romans, king 
Agrippa, &c. and provoked that dreadful war which, in a 
few years, deluged Judea with blood, and laid its capital in 
ruins. 

If it be here objected, that, because wars are events of 
frequent occurrence, it would be improper to refer to su- 
pernatural foresight a successful prediction respecting them, 
it is replied, that much of this objection will be removed, 
by considering the incompetency of even statesmen them- 
selves to fbretel the condition, only for a few years, of the 
very nation whose affairs they administer. It is a well- 
known fact, that the prime minister of Great Britain, on the 
very eve of the long and destructive war with the French 
Republic, held out to his country, a picture of fifteen suc- 
cessive years of peace and prosperity. And who could 
have anticipated, even a few months beforehand, those hos- 



292 EARTHQUAKES. 

tilities which terminated at Waterloo 1 Indeed, the nice 
points on which peace and war often depend, baffle all cal- 
culations from present aspects; and a rumour of war, so 
loud and so alarming, as even to suspend the operations of 
commerce, &c may terminate in nothing but rumour. — 
Further, let it be considered, that the wars to which this 
part of our Lord's prophecy referred, were to be of two 
kinds, and that the event corresponded accordingly ; that 
they occurred within the period to which he had assigned 
them ; that they fell with the most destructive severity on 
the Jews, to whom the prophecy at large chiefly related ; 
and that the person who predicted them was not in the 
condition of a statesman, but in that of a carpenter's son ! 
On this subject more in another place. 

" And great earthquakes shall be in divers places." Of 
these significant emblems of political commotions, there oc- 
curred several within the scene of this prophecy, and, as 
our Saviour predicted, in divers places. In the reign of 
Claudius there was one at Rome, and another at Apamea, 
in Syria, where many of the Jews resided. The earthquake 
at the latter place was so destructive, that the emperor, in 
order to relieve the distresses of the inhabitants, remitted 
its tribute for five years. Both these earthquakes are re- 
corded by Tacitus. There was one also, in the same reign, 
in Crete. This is mentioned by Philostratus, in his Life of 
Apollonius, who says, that there were others " at Smyrna, 
Miletas, Chios, and Samos ; in all which places Jews had 
settled." In the reign of Nero there was an earthquake at 
Laodicea. Tacitus records this also. It is likewise men- 
tioned by Eusebius and Orisus, who add, that Hierapolis and 
Colosse, as well as Loadicea, were overthrown by an earth- 
quake. There was also one in Campania in this reign, (of 
this both Tacitus and Seneca speak ;) and another at Rome 
in the reign of Galba, recorded by Suetonius : to all which 
may be added those which happened on that dreadful night 
when the Idumeans were excluded from Jerusalem, a short 
time before the siege commenced. " A heavy storm (says 
Josephus) burst on them during the night ; violent winds 
arose, accompanied with the most excessive reins, with con- 
stant lightnings, most tremendous thunderings; and with 
dreadful roarings of earthquakes. It seemed, continues he, 
as if the system of the world had been confounded for the 



FAMINES AND PESTILENCES. 293 

destruction of mankind ; and one might well conjecture that 
these were signs of no common events !" 

Our Lord predicted "famines" also. Of these the prin- 
cipal was that which Agabus foretold would happen in the 
days of Claudius, as related in the Acts of the Apostles. It 
began in the fourth year of his reign, and was of long con- 
tinuance. It extended through Greece, and even into Italy, 
but was felt most severely in Judea, and especially at Jeru- 
salem, where many perished for want of bread. This fa- 
mine is recorded by Josephus also, who relates that an as- 
saron of corn was sold for 5 drachmae (i. e. about 3 pints 
and a half for 3s. 3d.) It is likewise noticed by Eusebius 
and Orosius. To alleviate this terrible calamity, Helena, 
queen of Adiabena, who was at that time in Jerusalem, or- 
dered large supplies of grain to be sent from Alexandria ; 
and Izates, her son, consigned vast sums to the governors of 
Jerusalem, to be applied to the relief of the more indigent 
sufferers. The Gentile christian converts residing in foreign 
countries, also sent, at the instance of St. Paul, liberal con- 
tributions to relieve the distresses of their Jewish brethren.* 
Dion Cassius relates that there was likewise a famine in the 
first year of Claudius, which prevailed at Rome, and in other 
parts of Italy : and, in the eleventh year of the same empe- 
ror, there was another, mentioned by Eusebius. To these 
may be added those that afflicted the inhabitants of several 
of the cities of Galilee and Judea, which were besieged and 
taken, previously to the investment of Jerusalem, where 
the climax of national misery, arising from this and every 
other cause, was so awfully completed. 

Our Saviour adds "pestilences" likewise. Pestilence 
treads upon the heels of famine ; it may therefore reasona- 
bly be presumed, that this terrible scourge accompanied the 
(famines which had just been enumerated. History, how- 
ever, particularly distinguishes two instances of this cala- 
;mity, which occurred before the commencement of the 
Jewish war. The first took place at Babylon, about A. D. 
40, and raged so alarmingly, that great multitudes of Jews 
fled from that city to Selucia for safety, as hath been hinted 
already. The other happened at Rome, A. D. 65, and carried 
joff prodigious multitudes. Both Tacitus and Suetonius also 
'record, that similar calamities prevailed, during this period, 

* 1 Cor. xvi. 3. 
J 2b2 



294 PRODIGIES WHICH PRECEDED 

in various other parts of the Roman empire. After Jerusa- 
lem was surrounded by the army of Titus, pestilential dis- 
eases soon made their appearance there, to aggravate the mi- 
series, and deepen the horrors of the siege. They were 
partly occasioned by the immense multitudes which were 
crowded together in the city, partly by the putrid effluvia 
which arose from the unburied dead, and partly from the 
prevalence of the famine. 

Our Lord proceeded, " And fearful sights and great signs 
shall there be from heaven."* — Josephus has collected the 
chief of these portents together, and introduces his account 
by a reflection on the strangeness of that infatuation, which 
could induce his countrymen to give credit to impostors, and 
unfounded reports, whilst they disregarded the divine admo- 
nitions, confirmed, as he asserts they were, by the following 
extraordinary signs : 

1. " A meteor, resembling a sword,f hung over Jerusalem 
during one whole year." This could not be a comet, for it 
was stationary, and was visible for twelve successive months. 
A sword too, though a fit emblem of destruction, but ill re- 
presents a comet. 

2. " On the eighth of the month Zanthicus (before the 
feast of unleavened bread) at the ninth hour of the night, 
there shone round about the altar, and the circumjacent 
buildings of the temple, a light equal to the brightness of 
the day, which continued for the space of half an hour." 
This could not be the effect of lightning, nor of a vivid au- 
rora borealis, for it was confined to a particular spot, and 
the light shone unintermittedly thirty minutes. 

3. " As the high priests were leading a heifer to the altar 
to be sacrificed, she brought forth a lamb, in the midst of 
the temple." Such is the strange account given by the his- 
torian. Some may regard it " as a Grecian fable ;" while 
others may think that they discern in this prodigy a mira- 
culous rebuke of Jewish infidelity and impiety, for rejecting 
that antypical Lamb, who had offered himself as an atone- 
ment, " once for all ;" and who, by thus completely fulfilling 
their design, had virtually abrogated the levitical sacrifices. 
However this may be, the circumstances of the prodigy are 
remarkable. It did not occur in an obscure part of the city, 
but in the temple ; not at an ordinary time, but at the 

* Luke xxi. 11. |- Vide 1 Chron. xxi. 16. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 295 

over, the season of our Lord's crucifixion — in the presence, 
not of the vulgar merely, but of the high priests and their 
attendants, and when they were leading the sacrifice to the 
altar. 

4. " About the sixth hour of the night, the eastern gate 
of the temple was seen to open without human assistance." 
When the guards informed the curator of this event, he sent 
men to assist them in shutting it, who, with great difficulty 
succeeded. This gate, as hath been observed already, was 
of solid brass, and required twenty men to close it every 
evening. It could not have been opened by a " strong gust 
of wind," or a " slight earthquake ;" for Josephus says, " it 
was secured by iron bolts and bars, w T hich were let down 
into a large threshhold, consisting of one entire stone."* 

5. " Soon after the feast of the passover, in various parts 
of the country, before the setting of the sun, chariots and 
armed men were seen in the air, passing round about Jeru- 
salem." Neither could this portentous spectacle be occasion- 
ed by the aurora borealis, for it occurred before the setting 
of the sun ; or merely the fancy of a few villagers, gazing 
at the heavens, for it was seen in various parts of the country. 

6. " At the subsequent feast of Pentecost, while the priests 
were going, by night, into the inner temple to perform their 
customary ministrations, they first felt, as they said, a shaking, 
accompanied by an indistinct murmuring, and afterwards 
voices as of a multitude, saying, in a distinct and earnest 
manner, — ' Let us depart hence.' " This gradation will 
remind the reader of that awful transaction, which the feast 
of Pentecost was principally instituted to commemorate. 
First, a shaking was heard ; this would naturally induce the 
priests to listen ; an unintelligible murmuring succeeds ; this 
would more powerfully arrest their attention — and while it 
was thus awakened and fixed, they heard, says Josephus, 
the voices, as of a multitude, distinctly pronouncing the 
w T ords, " Let us depart hence." And accordingly, before the 
period for celebrating this feast returned, the Jewish war 
had commenced, and in the space of three years afterwards, 
Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman army, the temple 
converted into a citadel, and its sacred courts streaming 
with the blood of human victims. 

* The conclusion which the Jews drew from this event was that the 
security of the temple was gone. 



296 PRODIGIES WHICH PRECEDED 

7. As the last and most fearful omen, Josephus relates 
that one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a rustic of the lower 
class, during the feast of tabernacles, suddenly exclaimed in 
the temple, " A voice from the east — a voice from the west 
■ — a voice from the four winds — a voice against Jerusalem 
and the temple— a voice against bridegrooms and brides — 
a voice against the whole people !" These words he inces- 
santly proclaimed aloud both day and night, through all the 
streets of Jerusalem, for seven years and five months toge- 
ther, commencing at a time (A. D. 62,) when the city was 
in a state of peace and overflowing with prosperity, and ter- 
minating amidst the horrors of the siege. This disturber, 
having excited the attention of the magistracy, was brought 
before Albinus, the Roman governor, who commanded that 
he should be scourged. But the severest stripes drew from 
him neither tears nor supplications. As he never thanked 
those who relieved, so neither did he complain of the in- 
justice of those who struck him. And no other answer 
could the governor obtain to his interrogatories, but his 
usual denunciation of " Wo, wo to Jerusalem !" which he 
still continued to proclaim through the city, but especially 
during the festivals, when his manner became more earnest, 
and the tone of his voice louder. At length, on the com- 
mencement of the siege, he ascended the walls, and, in a 
more powerful voice than ever, exclaimed, " Wo, wo to this 
city, this temple, and this people !" And then with a pre- 
sentiment of his own death, added, " Wo, wo to myself!" 
He had scarcely uttered these words, when a stone from one 
of the Roman engines killed him on the spot. 

Such are the prodigies related by Jo9ephus, and which, 
excepting the first, he places in the year immediately pre- 
ceding the Jewish war. Several of them are recorded also 
by Tacitus. They all corresponded to our Lord's predic- 
tion of "fearful sights, and great signs from heaven ;" and 
ought to be deemed a sufficient answer to the objector, who 
demands, whether any such appearances are respectably 
recorded.* 

* Josephus was a Jewish priest, and therefore disposed to speak as 
well as he could of his people. Tacitus was a heathen historian > and 
strongly prejudiced against Christ and his religion: neither of these, 
it is plain, could have had either the disposition or design to verify the 
predictions of the gospel ; and yet iheir writings, especially those of 



THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 297 

The next prediction of our Lord related to the persecu- 
tions of his disciples : " TJiey shall lay their hands on you" 
said he, " and persecute you, delivering you up to the sy- 
nagogues and into prisons, being brought before kings and 
rulers for my name's sake :"* " and they shall deliver you 
up to councils, and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten ;"f 
" and some of you shall they cause to be put to death."\ In 
the very infancy of the Christian church, these unmerited 
and unprovoked cruelties began to be inflicted. Our Lord, 
and his forerunner John the Baptist, had already been put 
to death ; the apostles Peter and John were first imprisoned, 
and then, together with the other apostles, were scourged 
before the Jewish council. Stephen, after confounding the 
Sanhedrim with his irresistible eloquence, was stoned to 
death. Herod Agrippa " stretched forth his hands to vex 
certain of the church,'' 9 beheaded James the brother of John, 
and again imprisoned Peter, designing to put him to death 
also. St. Paul pleaded before the Jewish council at Jeru- 
salem, and before Felix the Roman governor, who trem- 
bled on the judgment-seat, while the intrepid prisoner 
" reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to 
come!" Two years afterwards he was brought before the 
tribunal of Festus (who had succeeded Felix in the govern- 
ment,) king Agrippa the younger being present, who, while 
the governor scoffed, ingenuously acknowledged the force 
of the apostle's eloquence, and, half convinced, exclaimed, 
" Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" Lastly, 
he pleaded before the emperor Nero at Rome ; he was also 
brought with Silas before the rulers at Philippi, where both 
of them were scourged and imprisoned. Paul was likewise 
imprisoned two years in Judea, and afterwards twice at 
Rome, each time for the space of two years. He was 
scourged by the Jews five times, thrice beaten with rods, 
and once stoned; nay, he himself, before his conversion, 
was an instrument of fulfilling these predictions. St. Luke 
relates of him, that " he made havoc of the church, entering 
into every house, and haling men and women, committed 
them to prison ; when they were put to death he gave his 
voice against them ; he punished them oft in every syna- 

the former, abundantly confirm the prophecies of our Saviour respect- 
ing the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity. 
( * Luke xxi. 12. t Mark xiii. 9. t Luke xxi, 16. 



298 SPEEDY PROPAGATION OF 

gogue, and persecuted them even into strange cities ;" and 
to this agree his own declarations.* At length, about two 
years before the Jewish war, the first general persecution 
commenced at the instigation of the emperor Nero, " who," 
says Tacitus, " inflicted upon the Christians, punishments 
exquisitely painful ;" multitudes suffered a cruel martyrdom, 
amidst derision and insults, and among the rest the venera- 
ble apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. 

Our Lord continues — " And ye shall be hated of all na- 
tions for my name's sake."-\ The hatred from which the 
above recited persecutions sprang, was not provoked on 
the part of the Christians, by a contumacious resistance to 
established authority, or by any violations of law, but was 
the unavoidable consequence of their sustaining the name, 
and imitating the example of their Master. " It was a war," 
says Tertullian, " against the very name ; to be a Christian 
was of itself crime enough." And to the same effect is that 
expression of Pliny in his letter to Trajan : " I asked them 
whether they were Christians ; if they confessed it, I asked 
them a second and a third time, threatening them with pu- 
nishment, and those who persevered I commanded to be 
led away to death." — It is added, " Of all nations." What- 
ever animosity or dissensions might subsist between the 
Gentiles and the Jews on other points, they w T ere at all 
times ready to unite and to co-operate in the persecution of 
the humble followers of him, who came to be a light to the 
former, and the glory of the latter.]: 

" And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one 
another."!} Concerning this fact, the following decisive 
testimony of Tacitus may suffice : speaking of the persecu- 
tions of the Christians under Nero, to which we have just 
alluded, he adds, " several were seized who confessed, and 
by their discovery a great multitude of others were con- 
victed and barbarously executed." 

" And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all 
the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the 
end (i. e. of the Jewish dispensation) come."\\ Of the ful- 
filment of this prediction, the epistles of St. Paul, addressed 
to the Christians at Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Phi- 

* Vide Acts xxvi. 10, 11. Gal. i. 23. t Matt. xxiv. 9. 

J Acts xiii. 45 ; xiv. 2 — 6, 19; xvii. 6, &c. t 

$ Matt. xxiv. 10. II Matt. xxiv. 14. 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE WORLD. 299 

lippi, Colosse, Thessalonica ; and those of Peter to such as 
resided in Pontus, Cappadocia, and Bithynia, are monuments 
now standing, for neither of these apostles were living 
when the Jewish war commenced. St. Paul too, in his 
epistle to the Romans, informs them that " their faith was 
spoken of throughout the world ;" and in that to the Colos- 
sians he observes, that the " gospel had been preached to 
every creature under heaven." Clement, who was a fel- 
low-labourer with the apostle, relates of him that " he taught 
the whole world righteousness, travelling from the east 
westward to the borders of the ocean." Eusebiu6 says that 
" the apostles preached the gospel in all the world, and that 
some of them passed beyond the bounds of the ocean, and 
visited the Britannic isles :* so says Theodoret also. 

M It appears," says Bishop Newton, " from the writers of 
the history of the church, that before the destruction of 
Jerusalem, the gospel was not only preached in the Lesser 
Asia, and Greece and Italy, the great theatres of action 
then in the world, but was likewise propagated as far north- 
ward as Scythia, as far southward as Ethiopia, as far east- 
ward as Parthia and India, as far westward as Spain and 
Britain." And Tacitus asserts, that " the Christian religion, 
which arose in Judea, spread over many parts of the world, 
and extended to Rome itself, where the professors of it, as 
early as the time of Nero, amounted to a vast multitude," 
insomuch that their numbers excited the jealousy of the go- 
vernment. 

Thus completely was fulfilled a prediction, contrary to 
every conclusion that could have been grounded on moral 
probability, and to the accomplishment of which every kind 
of impediment was incessantly opposed. The reputed son 
of a mechanic instructs a few simple fishermen in a new 
religion, destitute of worldly incentives, but full of self-de- 
nials, sacrifices, and sufferings, and tells them that in about 
forty years it should spread over all the world. It spreads 
accordingly ; and in defiance of the exasperated bigotry of 
[ the Jews, and of all the authority, power, and active oppo- 

* It is admitted that the phrases " all the world," " every creature," 
&c are hyperbolical ; but then, taken in their connexion, they evi- 
dently import the universality of the preaching and spread of the 
gospel, previously to the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the 
point to be proved. 



300 FOUNDATION OF THE ROMAN WAR. 

sition of the Gentiles, is established, within that period, in 
all the countries into which it penetrates. Can any one 
doubt but that the prediction and its fulfilment were equally 
divine ? 

Such, briefly, is the account that history gives of the se- 
veral events and signs, which our Lord had foretold would 
precede the destruction of the holy city. No sooner were 
his predictions accomplished, than a most unaccountable 
infatuation seized upon the whole Jewish nation ; so that 
they not only provoked, but seemed even to rush into the 
midst of those unparalleled calamities, which at length to- 
tally overwhelmed them. In an essay of this sort, it is 
impossible to enter into a minute detail of the origin and 
progress of these evils ; but such particulars as illustrate the 
fulfilment of the remaining part of the prophecy, and justify 
the strong language in which it is couched, shall be pre- 
sented to the reader. 

From the conquest of their country by Pompey, about 60 
years B. C. the Jews had, on several occasions, manifested 
a refractory spirit ; but after Judas the Gaulonite, and Sad- 
due the Pharisee had taught them, that submission to the 
Roman assessments would pave the way to a state of abject 
slavery, this temper displayed itself with increasing ma- 
lignity and violence. Rebellious tumults and insurrections 
became more and more frequent and alarming ; and to these 
the mercenary exactions of Florus, the Roman governor, 
not a little contributed. At length Eleazer, son of the high 
priest, persuaded those who officiated in the temple to re- 
ject the sacrifices of foreigners, and no longer to offer up 
prayers for them. Thus an insult was thrown upon Caesar, 
his sacrifice rejected, and the foundation of the Roman war 
laid. The disturbances among the Jews still continuing, 
Cestius Gall us, president of Syria, marched an army into 
Judea, in order to quell them, and his career was every 
where marked with blood and desolation. As he proceeded, 
he plundered and burnt the beautiful city of Zabulon, Joppa, 
and all the villages which lay in his way. At Joppa, he 
slew of the inhabitants eight thousand four hundred. He 
laid waste the district of Narbatene, and sending an army 
into Galilee, slew there two thousand of the seditious Jews. 
He then burnt the city of Lydda, and after having repulsed 
the Jews, who made a desperate sally upon him, encamped 



BLOODY CAREER OF VESPASIAN. 301 

at length at the distance of about one mile from Jerusalem. 
On the fourth day he entered its gates, and burnt three 
divisions of the city, and might now, by its capture, have 
put a period to the war ; but through the treacherous per- 
suasions of his officers, instead of pursuing his advantages, 
he most unaccountably raised the siege, and fled from the 
city with the utmost precipitation. The Jews, however, 
pursued him as far as Antipatris, and, with little loss to 
themselves, slew of his army nearly six thousand men. 
After this disaster had befallen Cestius, the more opulent of 
the Jews, says Josephus, forsook Jerusalem as men do a 
sinking ship. And it is with reason supposed, that on this 
occasion many of the Christians, or converted Jews, who 
dwelt there, recollecting the warnings of their divine Mas- 
ter, retired to Pella, a place beyond Jordan, situated in a 
mountainous country,* whither (according to Eusebius, who 
resided near the spot) they came from Jerusalem, and set- 
tled, before the war under Vespasian began. Other provi- 
dential opportunities for escaping afterwards occurred, of 
which, it is probable, those who were now left behind 
availed themselves; for it is a striking fact, and such as 
cannot be contemplated by the pious mind without senti- 
ments of devout admiration, that history does not record that 
even one Christian perished in the siege of Jerusalem. En- 
during to the end faithful to their blessed Master, they gave 
full credit to his predictions, and escaped the calamity. 
Thus were fulfilled the words of our Lord, " He that shall 
I endure unto the end (i. e. of the scene of this prophecy) shall 
i be saved "\ i. e. from the calamities which will involve all 
those who shall continue obstinate in unbelief. 

Nero, having been informed of the defeat of Cestius, im- 
! mediately appointed Vespasian, a man of tried valour, to 
1 prosecute the war against the Jews, who, assisted by his son 
• Titus, soon collected at Ptolemais an army of sixty thousand 
men. From hence, in the spring of A. D. 67, he marched 
i into Judea, every where spreading the most cruel havoc and 
devastation ; the Roman soldiers, on various occasions, spar- 
ing neither infants nor the aged. For fifteen months Ves- 
pasian proceeded in this sanguinary career, during which 

* Such was our Lord's admonition : "Let them which be in Judea 
flee into the mountains" &c. Vide Matt. xxiv. 16 — 22. 
t Matt. xxiv. 13. 

2C 



302 DREADFUL CALAMITY AT JOPPA. 

period he reduced all the strong towns of Galilee, and the 
chief of those in Judea, destroying at least one hundred and 
fifty thousand of the inhabitants. Among the terrible cala- 
mities which at this time happened to the Jews, those which 
befel them at Joppa, which had been rebuilt, deserve parti- 
cular notice. Their frequent piracies had provoked the 
vengeance of Vespasian. The Jews fled before his army to 
their ships ; but a tempest immediately arose, and pursued 
such as stood out to sea, and overset them, while the rest 
were dashed vessel against vessel, and against the rocks, in 
the most tremendous manner. In this perplexity some were 
drowned, some were crushed by the broken ships, others 
killed themselves, and such as reached the shore were slain 
by the merciless Romans. The sea for a long space was 
stained with blood ; four thousand two hundred dead bodies 
were strewed along the coast, and dreadful to relate, not an 
individual survived to report this great calamity at Jerusa- 
lem. Such events were foretold by our Lord, when he said, 
" There shall he distress of nations, with perplexity ; the sea 
and the waves roaring."* 

Vespasian, after proceeding as far as Jericho, returned to 
Caesarea, in order to make preparations for his grand attempt 
against Jerusalem. While he was thus employed, he re- 
ceived intelligence of the death of Nero; whereupon, not 
knowing what the will of the future emperor might be, he 
prudently resolved to suspend, for the present, the execution 
of his design. Thus the Almighty gave the Jews a second 
respite, which continued nearly two years; but they re- 
pented not of their crimes, neither were they in the least 
degree reclaimed, but rather proceeded to acts of still 
greater enormity. The flame of civil dissension again burst 
out, and with more dreadful fury. In the heart of Jerusalem 
two factions, contending for the sovereignty, raged against 
each other with rancorous and destructive animosity. A 
division of one of these factions having been excluded from 
the city, forcibly entered it during the night. Athirst for 
blood, and inflamed by revenge, they spared neither age, sex, 
nor infancy ; and the morning sun beheld eight thousand 
live hundred dead bodies lying in the streets of the holy city. 
They plundered every house, and having found the chief 
priests, Ananus and Jesus, not only slew them, but, insult- 
* Luke xxi. 25. 



APPROACH OF THE ROMAN ARMY. 303 

ing their bodies, cast them forth unburied. They slaugh- 
tered the common people as unfeelingly as if they had been 
a herd of the vilest beasts. The nobles they first imprisoned, 
then scourged, and when they could not by these means 
attach them to their party, they bestowed death upon them 
as a favour. Of the higher classes twelve thousand perished 
in this manner ; nor did any one dare to shed a tear, or ut- 
ter a groan, openly, through fear of a similar fate. Death, 
indeed, was the penalty of the lightest and heaviest accu- 
sation, nor did any escape through the meanness of their 
birth, or their poverty. Such as fled were intercepted and 
slain ; their carcasses lay in heaps on all the public roads ; 
every symptom of pity seemed utterly extinguished, and 
with it all respect for authority, both human and divine. 

While Jerusalem was a prey to these ferocious and de- 
vouring factions, every part of Judea was scoui-ged and laid 
waste by bands of robbers and murderers, who plundered 
the towns, and, in case of resistance, slew the inhabitants, 
not sparing either women or children. Simon, son of Gio- 
ras, the commander of one of these bands, at the head of 
forty thousand banditti, having with some difficulty entered 
Jerusalem, gave birth to a third faction, and the flame of 
civil discord blazed out again, with still more destructive 
fury. The three factions, rendered frantic by drunkenness, 
rage, and desperation, trampling on heaps of slain, fought 
against each other with brutal savageness and madness. 
Even such as brought sacrifices to the temple were mur- 
dered. The dead bodies of priests and worshippers, both 
natives and foreigners, were heaped together, and a lake of 
blood stagnated in the sacred courts. John of Gischala, 
who headed one of the factions, burnt store-houses full of 
provisions; and Simon, his great antagonist, who headed 
another of them, soon afterwards followed his example. — 
Thus they cut the very sinews of their own strength. At 
this critical and alarming conjuncture, intelligence arrived 

[that the Roman army was approaching the city. The Jews 
were petrified with astonishment and fear; there was no 
time for counsel, no hope of pacification, no means of flight: 
— all was wild disorder and perplexity : — nothing was to be 
heard but " the confused noise of the warrior" — nothing to 
be seen but " garments rolled in blood" — nothing to be ex- 
pected from the Romans but signal and exemplary ven- 



304 TITUS ENCAMPS BEFORE JERUSALEM. 

geance. A ceaseless cry of combatants was heard day and 
night, and yet the lamentations of mourners were still more 
dreadful. The consternation and terror which now pre- 
vailed, induced many of the inhabitants to desire that a fo- 
reign foe might come, and effect their deliverance. Such 
was the horrible condition of the place when Titus and his 
army presented themselves, and encamped before Jerusa- 
lem ; but alas ! not to deliver it from its miseries, but to fulfil 
the prediction and vindicate the benevolent warning of our 
Lord : " When ye see (he said to his disciples) the abomi- 
nation of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, stand- 
ing in the holy place* and Jerusalem surrounded by armies 
(or camps,) then let those who are in the midst of Jerusalem 
depart, and let not those who are in the country enter into 
Aer," for " then know that the desolation thereof is nigh."\ 
These armies, we do not hesitate to affirm, were those of 
the Romans, who now invested the city. From the time 
of the Babylonian captivity, idolatry had been held as an 
abomination by the Jews. This national aversion was ma- 
nifested even against the images of their gods and emperors, 
which the Roman armies carried in their standards ; so that 
in a time of peace, Pilate, and afterwards Vitellius, at the 
request of some eminent Jews, on this account avoided 
marching their forces through Judea. Of the desolating 
disposition which now governed the Roman army, the his- 
tory of the Jewish war, and especially of the final demoli- 
tion of the holy city, presents an awful and signal example. 
Jerusalem was not captured merely, but, with its celebrated 
temple, laid in ruins. Lest, however, the army of Titus 
should not be sufficiently designated by this expression, our 
Lord adds, " Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles 
be gathered tog ether. "\ The Jewish state, indeed, at this 
time, was fitly compared to a carcass. The sceptre of Judah, 
i. e. its civil and political authority, the life of its religion, 
and the glory of its temple, were departed. It was, in short, 
morally and judicially dead. The eagle, whose ruling in- 

* Not only was the temple and mountain on which it stood ac- 
counted holy, but also the whole city of Jerusalem, and several fur- 
longs of land round about it. Vide Neh. xi. 1 ; Isaiah liii. 1 ; Daniel | 
ix. 24 ; and Matt, xxvii. 53. 

t Matt. xxiv. 15, 21 ; Luke xxi. 20, 21. 

| Matt. xxiv. 28. 



ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION DESCRIBED. 305 

stinct is rapine and murder, as fitly represented the fierce 
and sanguinary temper of the Romans, and, perhaps, might 
be intended to refer also to the principal figure on their 
ensigns, which, however obnoxious to the Jews, were at 
length planted in the midst of the holy city, and finally on 
the temple itself. 

The day on which Titus encompassed Jerusalem was 
the feast of the passover ; and it is deserving of the very 
particular attention of the reader, that this was the anni- 
versary of that memorable period in which the Jews cruci- 
fied their Messiah ! At this season multitudes came up 
from all the surrounding country, and from distant parts to 
keep the festival. How suitable and how kind, then, was 
I the prophetic admonition of our Lord, and how clearly he 
! saw into futurity when he said, " Let not them that are in 
the countries enter into Jerusalem"* Nevertheless, the 
: city was at that time crowded with Jewish strangers, and 
foreigners from all parts, so that the whole nation may be 
\ considered as having been shut up in one prison, prepara- 
J. tory to the execution of the divine vengeance; and, accord- 
I ing to Josephus, this event took place suddenly ; thus not 
j only fulfilling the predictions of our Lord, that these eala- 
I mities should come like the swift darting lightning " that 
I cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the icest" and 
" as a snare on all them (the Jews) who divelt upon the face 
1 of the whole earth ;"f but justifying, also, his friendly direc- 
tion, that those who fled from the place should use the ut- 
most possible expedition. 

On the appearance of the Roman army, the factious Jews 
united, and rushing furiously out of the city, repulsed the 
tenth legion, which was with difficulty preserved. This 
event caused a short suspension of hostilities, and, by open- 
ing the gates, gave an opportunity to such as were so dis- 
posed to make their escape ; which before this they could 
aiot have attempted without interruption, from the suspicion 
that they wished to revolt to the Romans. This success 
inspired the Jews with confidence, and they resolved to de- 
"fend their city to the very uttermost; but it did not prevent 
(the renewal of their civil broils. The faction under Elea- 
izer having dispersed, and arranged themselves under the 
two other leaders, John and Simon, there ensued a scene of 
* Luke xxi. 22. t Matt. xxiv. 27; and Luke xxi. 35. 

2c2 



306 FAMINE APPEARS IN THE JEWISH ARMY. 

the most dreadful contention, plunder, and conflagration: 
the middle space of the city being burnt, and the wretched 
inhabitants made the prize of the contending parties. The 
Romans at length gained possession of two of the three 
walls which defended the city, and fear once more united 
the factions. This pause to their fury had, however, scarcely 
begun, when famine made its ghastly appearance in the 
Jewish army. It had for some time been silently approach- 
ing, and many of the peaceful and the poor had already pe- 
rished for want of necessaries. With this new calamity, 
strange to relate, the madness of the factions again returned, 
and the city presented a new picture of wretchedness. Im- 
pelled by the cravings of hunger, they snatched the staff of 
life out of each other's hands, and many devoured the grain 
unprepared. Tortures were inflicted for the discovery of 
a handful of meal ; women forced food from their husbands, 
and children from their fathers, and even mothers from their 
infants ; and while sucking children were wasting away in 
their arms, they scrupled not to take away the vital drops 
which sustained them ! So justly did our Lord pronounce 
a wo on " them who should give suck in those days."* This 
dreadful scourge at length drove multitudes of the Jews out 
of the city into the enemies' camp, where the Romans cru- 
cified them in such numbers, that, as Josephus relates, space 
was wanted for the crosses, and crosses for the captives ; 
and it having been discovered that some of them had swal- 
lowed gold, the Arabs and Syrians who were incorporated 
in the Roman army, impelled by avarice, with unexampled 
cruelty, ripped open two thousand of the deserters in one 
night. Titus, touched by these calamities, in person en- 
treated the Jews to surrender, but they answered him with 
revilings. Exasperated by their obstinacy and insolence, 
he now resolved to surround the city by a circumvallation,f 
which, with astonishing activity, was effected by the soldiers 
in three days. Thus was fulfilled another of our Lord's pre- 
dictions, for he had said, while addressing this devoted city, 
" Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass 
thee round about, and keep thee in on every side."\ As no 

* Matt. xxiv. 19. 

t This trench was thirty-nine furlongs in circuit, and strengthened 
with thirteen towers. 
t Luke. xix. 43. 



DEPLORABLE EFFECTS OF THE FAMINE. 307 

supplies whatever could now enter the walls, the famine 
rapidly extended itself, and, increasing in horror, devoured 
whole families. The tops of houses, and the recesses of 
the city, were covered with the carcasses of women, chil- 
dren, and aged men. The young men appeared like spec- 
tres in the places of public resort, and fell down lifeless in 
the streets. The dead were too numerous to be interred, 
and many expired in the performance of this office. The 
public calamity was too great for lamentation. Silence, 
and, as it were, a black and deadly night overspread the 
city. But even such a scene could not awe the robbers ; 
they spoiled the tombs, and stripped the dead of their grave 
clothes, with an unfeeling and wild laughter. They tried 
the edges of their swords on their carcasses, and even on 
some that were yet breathing ; while Simon Gioras chose 
this melancholy and awful period to manifest the deep ma- 
lignity and cruelty of his nature, in the execution of the 
high priest Matthias, and his three sons, whom he caused 
to be condemned as favourers of the Romans. The father, 
in consideration of his having opened the city gates to Simon, 
begged that he might be executed previously to his chil- 
dren ; but the unfeeling tyrant gave orders that he should 
be despatched in the last place, and in his expiring moments 
insultingly asked him, whether the Romans could then re- 
lieve him. 

While the city was in this dismal situation, a Jew named 
Mannaeus fled to Titus, and informed him, that from the 
beginning of the siege (14th April) to the first of July fol- 
lowing, one hundred and fifteen thousand eight hundred 
and eighty dead bodies had been carried through one gate 
only, which he had guarded. This man had been appointed 
to pay the public allowance for carrying the bodies out, and 
was therefore obliged to register them. Soon after, several 
respectable individuals deserted to the Romans, and as- 
sured Titus that the whole number of the poor who had 
been cast out at the different gates, was not less than six 
hundred thousand. The report of these calamities excited 
pity in the Romans, and in a particular manner affected 
Titus, who, while surveying the immense number of dead 
bodies which were piled up under the walls, raised his 
hands towards heaven, and, appealing to the Almighty, so- 
lemnly protested that he had not been the cause of these 



308 NUMBER OF DEAD CAST OUT, &c. 

deplorable calamities; which, indeed, the Jews, by their 
unexampled wickedness, rebellion, and obstiaacy, had 
brought down upon their own heads. 

After this, Josephus, in the name of Titus, earnestly ex- 
horted John and his adherents to surrender ; but the inso- 
lent rebel returned nothing but reproaches and impreca- 
tions, declaring his firm persuasion that Jerusalem, as it was 
God's own city, could never be taken : thus literally fulfil- 
ling the declaration of Micah, that the Jews, in their extre- 
mity, notwithstanding their crimes, would presumptuously 
" lean upon the Lord and say, ' Is not the Lord among us t 
none evil can come upon us.' "* 

Meanwhile the horrors of famine grew still more melan- 
choly and afflictive. The Jews, for want of food, were at 
length compelled to eat their belts, their sandals, the skins 
of their shields, dried grass, and even the ordure of oxen. 
In the depth of this horrible extremity, a Jewess of noble 
family, urged by the intolerable cravings of hunger, slew 
her infant child, and prepared it for a meal ; and had actu- 
ally eaten one half thereof, when the soldiers, allured by 
the smell of food, threatened her with instant death if she 
refused to discover it. Intimidated by this menace, she im- 
mediately produced the remains of her son, which petrified 
them with horror. At the recital of this melancholy and 
affecting occurrence, the whole city stood aghast, and 
poured forth their congratulations on those whom death had 
hurried away from such heart-rending scenes. Indeed, 
humanity at once shudders and sickens at the narration, 
nor can any one of the least sensibility reflect upon the pi- 
tiable condition to which the female part of the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem must at this time have been reduced, without 
experiencing the tenderest emotions of sympathy, or refrain 
from tears, while he reads our Saviour's pathetic address to 
the women who " bewailed him" as he was led to Calvary, 
wherein he evidently refers to these very calamities: — 
" Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for ine, but for your- 
selves and for your children ; for, behold, the days are 
coming in which they shall say, J Blessed are the barren, and 
the wombs that never bear, and the breasts that never gave 
suck: "f 

The above melancholy fact was also literally foretold by 
* Micah iii. 11. t Luke xxiii. 29. 



A SOLDIER SETS FIRE TO THE TEMPLE. 309 

Moses : " The tender and delicate woman among you (said 
he, addressing Israel) who would not venture to set the sole 
of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, 
her eye shall be evil.... toward her young one.... which she 
shall bear" and " eat for want of all things, secretly , in the 
siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress 
thee in thy gates"* This prediction was partially fulfilled 
when Samaria, the capital of the revolted tribes, was be- 
sieged by Benhadad ; and afterwards at Jerusalem, previ- 
ously to its capture by Nebuchadnezzar ; but its exact and 
literal accomplishment, in relation to a lady of rank, deli- 
cately and voluptuously educated, was reserved for the pe- 
riod of which we are now speaking. And it deserves par- 
ticular regard, as a circumstance which very greatly en- 
hances the importance of this prophecy, that the history of 
the world does not record that a parallel instance of unna- 
tural barbarity ever occurred during the siege of any other 
place, in any other age or nation whatsoever. Indeed, Jo- 
sephus himself declares that, if there had not been many 
credible witnesses of the fact, he would not have recorded 
it, " because," as he remarks, " such a shocking violation of 
nature never having been perpetrated by any Greek or bar- 
barian," the insertion of it might have diminished the cre- 
dibility of his history. 

While famine continued thus to spread its destructive 
rage through the city, the Romans, after many ineffectual 
attempts, at length succeeded in demolishing part of the 
inner wall, possessed themselves of the great tower of An- 
tonia, and advanced towards the temple, which Titus in a 
council of war, had determined to preserve as an ornament 
to the empire, and as a monument of his success. But the 
Almighty had determined otherwise ; for now, in the revo- 
lution of ages, was arrived that fatal day,| emphatically 
called a " day of vengeance "I on which the temple had 
formerly been destroyed by the king of Babylon. A Roman 
soldier, urged, as he declared, by a divine impulse, regard- 
less of the command of Titus, climbed on the shoulders of 
another, and threw a flaming brand into the golden window 
of the temple, which instantly set the building on fire. 
The Jews, anxious above all things to save that sacred edi- 
* Deut. xxviii. 56, 57. t The 10th of August. 

X Luke xxi. 22. 



310 ATTEMPT TO PRESERVE THE SANCTUARY. 

fice, in which they superstitiously trusted for security, with 
a dreadful outcry, rushed in to extinguish the flames. Titus 
also, being informed of the conflagration, hastened to the 
spot in his chariot, attended by his principal officers and le- 
gions ; but in vain he waved his hand and raised his voice, 
commanding his soldiers to extinguish the fire; so great 
was the uproar and confusion, that no attention was paid 
even to him. The Romans, wilfully deaf, instead of extin- 
guishing the flames, spread them wider and wider. Actu- 
ated by the fiercest impulses of rancour and revenge against 
the Jews, they rushed furiously upon them, slaying some 
with the sword, trampling others under their feet, or crush- 
ing them to death against the walls. Many, falling amongst 
the smoking ruins of the porches and galleries, were suffo- 
cated. The unarmed poor, and even sick persons, were 
slaughtered without mercy. Of these unhappy people, 
numbers w T ere left weltering in their gore. Multitudes of 
the dead and dying were heaped round about the altar, to 
which they had formerly fled for protection, while the steps 
that led from it into the outer court were literally deluged 
with their blood. 

Finding it impossible to restrain the impetuosity and cru- 
elty of his soldiers, the commander-in-chief proceeded, with 
some of his superior officers, to take a survey of those parts 
of the edifice which were still uninjured by the conflagra- 
tion. It had not, at this time, reached the inner temple, 
which Titus entered, and viewed with silent admiration. 
Struck with the magnificence of its architecture, and the 
beauty of its decorations, which even surpassed the report 
of fame concerning them ; and perceiving that the sanctu- 
ary had not yet caught fire, he redoubled his efforts to stop 
the progress of the flames. He condescended even to en- 
treat his soldiers to exert all their strength and activity for 
this purpose, and appointed a centurion of the guards to pu- 
nish them, if they again disregarded him : but all was in 
vain. The delirious rage of the soldiery knew no bounds. 
Eager for plunder and for slaughter, they alike condemned 
the solicitations and the menaces of their general. Even 
while he was thus intent upon the preservation of the sanc- 
tuary, one of the soldiers was actually employed in setting 
fire to the door posts, which caused the conflagration to be- 
come general. Titus and his officers were now compelled 



TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER OF THE JEWS, &c. 311 

to retire, and none remained to check the fury of the sol- 
diers or the flames. The Romans, exasperated to the high- 
est pitch against the Jews, seized every person whom they 
could find, and without the least regard to sex, age, or qua- 
lity, first plundered, and then slew them. The old and the 
young, the common people and the priests, those who sur- 
rendered and those who resisted, were equally involved in 
this horrible and indiscriminate carnage. Meanwhile the 
temple continued burning, until at length, vast as was its 
size, the flames completely enveloped the whole building; 
which, from the extent of the conflagration, impressed the 
distant spectator with an idea that the whole city was now 
on fire. The tumult and disorder which ensued upon this 
event, it is impossible (says Josephus) for language to de- 
scribe. The Roman legions made the most horrid outcries; 
the rebels, finding themselves exposed to the fury of both 
fire and sword, screamed dreadfully; while the unhappy 
people who were pent up between the enemy and the 
flames, deplored their situations in the most pitiable com- 
plaints. Those on the hill and those in the city seemed 
mutually to return the groans of each other. Such as were 
expiring through famine, were revived by this scene, and 
seemed to acquire new spirits to deplore their misfortunes. 
The lamentations from the city were re-echoed from the 
adjacent mountains, and places beyond Jordan. The flames 
which enveloped the temple were so violent and impetuous, 
i that the lofty hill on which it stood appeared, even from its 
i deep foundation, as one large fire. The blood of the suf- 
! ferers flowed in proportion to the rage of this destructive 
1 element ; and the number of the slain exceeded all calcula- 
! tion. The ground could not be seen for the dead bodies, 
! over which the Romans trampled in pursuit of the fugitives; 
] while the crackling noise of the devouring flames, mingled 
{ with the clangour of arms, the groans of the dying, and the 
shrieks of despair, augmented the tremendous horror of a 
scene, to which the pages of history can furnish no parallel. 
Amongst the tragical events which at this time occurred, 
the following is more particularly deserving of notice. — A 
false prophet, pretending to a divine commission, affirmed, 
that if the people would repair to the temple, they should 
! behold signs of their speedy deliverance. Accordingly, 
about six thousand persons, chiefly women and children, as- 



312 TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE. 

sembled in a gallery, that was yet standing, on the outside 
of the building. Whilst they waited in anxious expectation 
of the promised miracle, the Romans, with the most wanton 
barbarity, set fire to the gallery; from which multitudes, 
rendered frantic by their horrible situation, precipitated 
themselves on the ruins below, and were killed by the fall ; 
while, awful to relate, the rest, without a single exception, 
perished in the flames. So necessary was our Lord's second 
premonition not to give credit to "false prophets," who 
should pretend to show " great signs and wonders." In 
this last caution, as the connexion of the prophecy demon- 
strates, he evidently refers to the period of the siege ; but 
in the former, to the interval immediately preceding the 
Jewish war.* 

The temple now represented little more than a heap of 
ruins ; and the Roman army, as in triumph on the event, 
came and reared the ensigns against a fragment of the 
eastern gate, and with sacrifices of thanksgiving, proclaimed 
the imperial majesty of Titus, with every possible demon- 
stration of joy. 

Thus terminated the glory and the existence of this sa- 
cred and venerable edifice, which from its stupendous size, 
its massy solidity, and astonishing strength, seemed formed 
to resist the most violent operations of human force, and to 
stand, like the pyramids, amid the shocks of successive ages, 
until the final dissolution of the globe, f 

* Matt xxiv. Compare verses 5, 23 — 26. 

t From its first foundation by king Solomon, until its destruction 
under Vespasian, were one thousand and thirty years, seven months, 
and fifteen days: and from its re-erection by Haggai, to the same 
period, six hundred and thirty-nine years, and forty- five days. It has 
been already hinted, that, by a very singular coincidence, it was now 
reduced to ashes in the same month, and on the same day of the 
month, on which it had formerly been burnt by the Babylonians. 
These two eras are distinguished by another extraordinary coincidence, 
which Josephns, in one of his addresses to the Jews, pointed out to 
them as one of the signs which foreboded the destruction of their 
city. " The fountains," said he, " flow copiously for Titus, which 
to you were dried up; for before he came, you know that both Si- 
loam failed, and all the springs without the city, so that water was 
brought by the amphora ;t but now they are so abundant to your 
enemies, as to suffice, not only for themselves and their cattle, but 
also for their gardens. This wonder you also formerly experienced 
when the king of Babylon laid siege to your city." 

X A vessel containing about seven gallons. 



THE JEWS REFUSE TO SURRENDER. 313 

For five days after the destruction of the temple, the 
priests who had escaped sat, pining with hunger, on the top 
of one of its broken walls ; at length, through necessity, 
they came down and humbly asked the pardon of Titus, 
which, however, he refused to grant them, saying, that "as 
the temple, for the sake of which he would have spared 
them, was destroyed, it was but fit that its priests should 
perish also;" whereupon he commanded that they should 
be put to death. 

The leaders of the factions being now pressed on all sides, 
begged a conference with Titus, who offered to spare their 
lives, provided that they would lay down their arms. With 
this reasonable condition, however, they refused to comply ; 
upon which Titus, exasperated by their obstinacy, resolved 
that he would hereafter grant no pardon to the insurgents, 
and ordered a proclamation to be made to this effect. The 
Romans had now full license to ravage and destroy. Early 
the following morning they set fire to the castle, the regis- 
ter-office, the council-chamber, and the palace of queen 
Helena ; and then spread themselves throughout the city, 
slaughtering wherever they came, and burning the dead 
bodies which were scattered over every street, and on the 
floors of almost every house. In the royal palace, where 
immense treasures were deposited, the seditious Jews mur- 
dered eight thousand four hundred of their own nation, and 
afterwards plundered their property. Prodigious numbers 
of deserters, also, who escaped from the tyrants, and fled 
into the enemies' camp, were slain. The soldiers, however, 
at length, weary of killing, and satiated with the blood 
which they had spilt, laid down their swords, and sought to 
gratify their avarice. For this purpose they took the Jews, 
together with their wives and families, and publicly sold 
them like cattle in a market, but at a very low price ; for 
multitudes were exposed to sale, while the purchasers were 
few in number. And now were fulfilled the w T ords of Mo- 
ses: " And ye shall be sold for bond-men and bond-women, 
and no man shall buy you."* 

The Romans having become masters of the lower city, 

set it on fire. The Jews now fled to the higher, from 

whence, their pride and insolence yet unabated, they con- 

I tinued to exasperate their enemies, and even appeared to 

* Deut xxviii. 68. 

2 D 



314 FINAL DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 

view the burning of the town below them with tokens of 
pleasure. In a short time, however, the walls of the higher 
city were demolished by the Roman engines, and the Jews, 
lately so haughty and presumptuous, now, trembling and 
panic-struck, fell on their faces, and deplored their own in- 
fatuation. Such as were in the towers, deemed impregna- 
ble to human force, beyond measure affrighted, strangely 
forsook them, and sought refuge in caverns and subterrane- 
ous passages; in which dismal retreats no less than. two 
thousand dead bodies were afterwards found. Thus, as our 
Lord had predicted, did these miserable creatures in effect, 
say " to the mountains, ' Fall on us ;' and to the rocks, 
' Cover usS "* 

The walls of the city being now completely in possession 
of the Romans, they hoisted their colours upon the towers, 
and burst forth into the most triumphant acclamations. 
After this, all annoyance from the Jews being at an end, 
the soldiers gave an unbridled license to their fury against 
the inhabitants. They first plundered, and then set fire to 
the houses. They ranged through the streets with drawn 
swords in their hands, murdering every Jew whom they 
met, without distinction ; till at length the bodies of the 
dead choaked up all the alleys and narrow passes, while 
their blood literally flowed down the channels of the city in 
streams. As it drew towards evening, the soldiers ex- 
changed the sword for the torch, and amidst the darkness 
of this awful night, set fire to the remaining divisions of 
the place. The vial of divine wrath which had been so 
long pouring out upon this devoted city, was now emptying, 
and Jerusalem, once " a praise in all the earth," and the 
subject of a thousand prophecies, deprived of the staff of 
life, wrapt in flames, and bleeding on every side, sunk into 
utter ruin and desolation.f 

Before their final demolition, however, Titus took a sur- 
vey of the city and its fortifications; and while contemplat- 
ing their impregnable strength, could not help ascribing his 
success to the peculiar interposition of the Almighty him- 
self. " Had not God himself (exclaimed he) aided our ope- 

* Luke xxiii. 20. 

t This memorable siege terminated on the 8th day of September, 
A. D. 70: its duration was nearly five months, the Romans having in- 
vested the city on the 14th day of the preceding April. 



JERUSALEM RAZED TO THE GROUND.- 315 

rations, and driven the Jews from their fortresses, it would 
have been absolutely impossible to have taken them ; for 
what could men, and the force of engines, have done against 
such towers as these ?*' After this he commanded that the 
city should be razed to its foundations, excepting only the 
three lofty towers, Hippocos, Phasael, and Mariamne, which 
he suffered to remain as evidences of its strength, and as 
trophies of his victory. There was left standing also, a 
small part of the western wall, as a rampart for a garrison, 
to keep the surrounding country in subjection. Titus now 
gave orders that those Jews only who resisted should be 
slain ; but the soldiers, equally void of pity and remorse, 
slew even the sick and the aged. The robbers and seditious 
were all punished with death : the tallest and most beautiful 
youths, together with several of the Jewish nobles, were 
reserved by Titus to grace his triumphal entry into Rome. 
After this selection, all above the age of seventeen were 
sent in chains into Egypt, to be employed there as slaves, 
or distributed throughout the empire, to be sacrificed as 
gladiators in the amphitheatres; whilst those who were 
under this age, were exposed to sale. 

During the time that these things were transacting, ele- 
ven thousand Jews, guarded by one of the generals, named 
Fronto, were literally starved to death. This melancholy 
occurrence happened partly through the scarcity of provi- 
sions, and partly through their own obstinacy, and the neg- 
ligence of the Romans. 

Of the Jews destroyed during the siege, Josephus reckons 
not less than one million and one hundred thousand, to 
which must be added, above two hundred and thirty-seven 
thousand who perished in other places, and innumerable 
multitudes who were swept away by famine and pestilence, 
and of which no calculation could be made. Not less than 
two thousand laid violent hands upon themselves. Of the 
captives, the whole number was about ninety-seven thou- 
sand. Of the two great leaders of the Jews, who had both 
been made prisoners, John was doomed to a dungeon for life ; 
while Simon, after being led, together with John, in triumph 
at Rome, was scourged and put to death as a malefactor. 

In executing the command of Titus, relative to the demo- 
lition of Jerusalem, the Roman soldiers not only threw down 
the buildings, but even dug up their foundations, and so 



316 • TRAGICAL EVENT AT M ASSAD A. 

completely levelled the whole circuit of the city, that a 
stranger would scarcely have known that it had ever been 
inhabited by human beings. Thus was this great city, 
which only five months before had been crowded with nearly 
two millions of people, who gloried in its impregnable 
strength, entirely depopulated, and levelled with the ground. 
And thus also was our Lord's prediction, that her enemies 
should " lay her even with the ground" and " should not 
leave in her one stone upon another"* most strikingly and 
fully accomplished ! This fact is confirmed by Eusebius, 
who asserts that he himself saw the city lying in ruins ; and 
Josephus introduces Eleazer as exclaiming, " Where is our 
great city, which, it was believed, God inhabited 7 It is al- 
together rooted and torn up from its foundations ; and the 
only monument of it that remains, is the camp of its de- 
stroyers, pitched amidst its reliquies !" 

Concerning the temple, our Lord had foretold, particu- 
larly, that notwithstanding their wonderful dimensions, 
there should " not be left one stone upon another that should 
not be thrown down ;" and accordingly it is recorded in the 
Talmud, and by Maimonides, that Terentius Rufus, captain 
of the army of Titus, absolutely ploughed up the foundations 
of the temple with a ploughshare. Now, also, was literally 
fulfilled that prophecy of Micah, — " Therefore shall Zion, 
for your sokes (i. e. for your wickedness,) be ploughed as 
a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the moun- 
tain of the Lord's house as the high places of the forest "\ 

Thus awfully complete, and severe beyond example, were 
the calamities which befel the Jewish nation, and especially 
the city of Jerusalem. With what truth, then, did our Lord 
declare, that there should " be great tribulation, such as 
was not since the beginning of the world, no, nor never shall 
be!"\ Such was tne prediction: the language in which 
Josephus declares its fulfilment is an exact counterpart to 
it. " If the misfortunes," says he, " of all nations, from 
the beginning of the world, were compared with those 
which befel the Jews, they would appear far less in com- 
parison ;" and again, " No other city ever suffered such 
things, as no other generation, from the beginning of the 
world, was ever more fruitful in wickedness." These were, 
indeed, " the days of vengeance," " that all things which 

* Luke xix. 44. t Mic. iii. 12. + Matt. xxiv. 21. 



TERMINATION OF THE WAR. 317 

are written (especially by Moses, Joel, and Daniel,) might 
be fulfilled"* Nor were the calamities of this ill-fated 
nation even now ended ; for there were still other places to 
subdue ; and our Lord had thus predicted, " wheresoever 
the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together "\ 
After the destruction of Jerusalem seventeen hundred Jews 
who surrendered at Macherus were slain, and of fugitives 
not less than three thousand in the wood of Jardes. Titus 
having marched his army to Csesarea, he there, with great 
splendour, celebrated the birth-day of his brother Domitian ; 
and, according to the barbarous manner of those times, pu- 
nished many Jews in honour of it. The number who were 
burnt, and who fell by fighting with wild beasts, and in 
mutual combats, exceeded two thousand and five hundred. 
At the siege of Massada, Eleazer, the commander, insti- 
gated the garrison to burn their stores, and to destroy first 
the women and children, and then themselves. Dreadful 
as it is to relate, this horrid design was executed. They 
were in number nine hundred and sixty. Ten were chosen 
to perform this bloody work ; the rest sat on the ground, 
and, embracing their wives and children, stretched out their 
necks to the sword : one was afterwards appointed to de- 
stroy the remaining nine, and then himself. The survivor, 
when he had looked round to see that all were slain, set fire 
to the place, and plunged his sword into his own bosom. 
Nevertheless, two women and five children successfully 
concealed themselves, and witnessed the whole transaction. 
When the Romans advanced to the attack in the morning, 
one of the women gave them a distinct account of this me- 
lancholy affair ; which struck them with amazement at the 
contempt of death that had been displayed by the Jews. 
After this event, if we except the transitory insurrection of 
the Sicarii, under Jonathan, all opposition on the part of the 
Jews every where ceased. It was the submission of impo- 
tence and despair. The peace that ensued was the effect 
of the direst necessity. The rich territory of Judea was 
converted into a desolate waste. Every where ruin and 
desolation presented itself to the solitary passenger, and a 
melancholy and death-like silence reigned over the whole 
region. The mournful and desolate condition of Judea, at 
this time, is exactly described by the prophet Isaiah, in the 
* Luke xxi. 22. t Matt. xxiv. 28. 

2i>2 



318 THE QUALIFICATIONS OF JOSEPHUS. 

following passage of his prophecy : " The cities were wasted 
without inhabitant, and the houses without a man, and the 
land was utterly desolate, and the Lord had removed men far 
away, and there was a great forsaking in the midst of the 
land."* 

The catastrophe which has now been reviewed, cannot 
but be deemed one of the most extraordinary that has hap- 
pened since the foundation of the world, and as it has pleased 
the Almighty to make it the subject of a very large propor- 
tion of the prophecies, both of the Jewish and Christian 
scriptures, so he hath ordained that the particular events 
which accomplished them, should be recorded with very re- 
markable precision, and by a man most singularly preserved,! 
qualified, and circumstanced for this purpose. But with re- 
spect to this latter point, he shall speak for himself. " At 
first," says Josephus, " I fought against the Romans, but 
was afterwards forced to be present in the Roman camp. 
At the time I surrendered, Vespasian and Titus kept me in 
bonds, but obliged me to attend them continually. After- 
wards I was set at liberty, and accompanied Titus when he 
came from Alexandria to the siege of Jerusalem. During 
this time nothing was done which escaped my knowledge. 
What happened in the Roman camp I saw, and wrote down 
carefully. As to the information the deserters brought out 
of the city, I was the only man that understood it. After- 
wards I got leisure at Rome ; and when all my materials 
were prepared, I procured the help of one to assist me in 
writing Greek. Thus I composed the history of those trans- 
actions, and I appealed both to Titus and Vespasian for the 
truth of it; to which also Julius Archelaus. Herod, and 
king Agrippa, bore their testimony." All remark here is 
needless : but it should not be forgotten, that Josephus was 
a Jew, obstinately attached to his religion ; and that, al- 
though he has circumstantially related every remarkable 
event of that period, lie seems studiously to have avoided 
such as had any reference to Jesus Christ, whose history 
(and even the genuineness of this is disputed) he sums up 
in about twelve lines. No one, therefore, can reasonably 
entertain a suspicion, that the service he has rendered to 
Christianity, by his narrative of the transactions of the 

♦Tsaiah \i. 11,12. 

t Three several times his life was preserved as by a miracle. 



CHARACTER OF TITUS. 319 

Jewish war, was at all the effect of design. The fidelity of 
Josephus, as an historian, is indeed universally admitted ; 
and Scaliger even affirms, that not only in the affairs of the 
Jews, but in those of foreign nations also, he deserves more 
credit than all the Greek and Roman writers put together. 

Nor is the peculiar character of Titus, the chief comman- 
der in this war, unworthy of our particular regard. Ves- 
pasian his father had risen out of obscurity, and was elected 
emperor, contrary to his avowed inclination, about the com- 
mencement of the conflict; and thus the chief command de- 
volved upon Titus, the most unlikely man throughout the 
Roman armies to become a scourge to Jerusalem. He was 
eminently distinguished for his great tenderness and huma- 
nity, which he displayed in a variety of instances during the 
siege. He repeatedly made pacific overtures to the Jews, 
and deeply lamented the infatuation that rejected them. In 
short, he did every thing which a military commander could 
do, to spare them, and to preserve their city and temple, but 
without effect. Thus was the will of God accomplished by 
the agency, although contrary to the wish of Titus ; and 
his predicted interposition, to punish his rebellious and 
apostate people, in this way rendered more conspicuously 
evident. 

The history of the Jews, subsequently to the time of Jo- 
sephus, still further corroborates the truth of our Saviour's 
prophecies concerning that oppressed and persecuted people. 
Into this inquiry, however, the limits of the present essay 
will not allow us to enter particularly. Our Lord foretold, 
generally, that they should "fall by the edge of the sword, 
and be led away captive into all nations ; and that Jerusa- 
lem should be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times 
of the Gentiles should be fulfilled ;"* and these predictions 
may be regarded as a faithful epitome of the circumstances 
of the Jews, and also of their city, from the period in which 
it was delivered, down even to our own times. 

In order to demonstrate the accomplishment of these pre- 
dictions, we appeal, therefore, to universal history, and to 
every country under heaven.f The undisputed facts are, 

* Luke xxi. 24. 

t " In the reign of Adrian," says Bishop Newton, " nine hundred 
and eighty- five of their best towns were sacked and demolished, five 
hundred and eighty thousand men fell by the sword, in battle, be- 



320 JERUSALEM TRODDEN DOWN. 

that Jerusalem has not since been in possession of the Jews, 
but has been successively occupied by the Romans, Arabic 
Saracens, Franks, Mamelucs, and lastly by the Turks, who 
now possess it. It has never regained its former distinction 
and prosperity. It has always been trodden down. The 
eagles of idolatrous Rome, the crescent of Mahomet, and 
the banner of popery, have by turns been displayed amidst 
the ruins of the sanctuary ; and a Mahomedan mosque, to 
the extent of a mile in circumference, now covers the spot 
where the temple formerly stood. The territory of Judea, 
then one of the most fertile countries on the globe, has for 

sides an infinite multitude who perished by famine, and sickness, and 
fire ; so that Judea was depopulated, and an almost incredible num- 
ber of every age, and of each sex, were sold like horses, and dis- 
persed over the face of the earth."* The war which gave rise to 
these calamities, happened about sixty-four years after the destruction 
of Jerusalem; during which time the Jews had greatly multiplied in 
Judea. About fifty years after the latter event, ^Elius Adrian built 
a new city on mount Calvary, and called it ^Elia, after his own 
name ; but no Jew was suffered to come near it. He placed in it a 
heathen colony, and erected a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, on the 
ruins of the temple of Jehovah. This event contributed greatly to 
provoke the sanguinary war to which we have just alluded. The 
Jews afterwards burnt the new city ; which Adrian, however, re* 
built, and re-established the colony. In contempt of the Jews, he or- 
dered a marble statue of a sow to be placed over its principal gate, 
and prohibited them entering the city under pain of death, and forbad 
thern even to look at it from a distance. He also ordered fairs to be 
held annually for the sale of captive Jews, and banished such as 
dwelt in Canaan into Egypt. Constantine greatly improved the city, 
and restored to it the name of Jerusalem ; but still he did not permit 
the Jews to dwell there. To punish an attempt to recover the pos- 
session of their capital; he ordered their ears to be cut ofT, their bodies 
to be marked as rebels, and dispersed them through all the provinces 
of the empire as vagabonds and slaves. Jovian having revived the 
severe edicts of Adrian, which Julian had suspended, the wretched 
Jews even bribed the soldiers with money, for the privilege only of 
beholding the sacred ruins of their city and temple, and weeping 
over them, which they were peculiarly solicitous to do on the anni- 
versary of that memorable day, on which they were taken and de- 
stroyed by the Romans. In short, during every successive age, and 
in all nations, this ill-fated people have been constantly persecuted, 
enslaved, contemned, harassed, and oppressed; banished from one 
country to another, and abused in all; while countless multitudes 
have at different periods' been barbarously massacred, particularly in 
Persia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt; and in Germany, Hungary, 
France, and Spain. 
* Newton, vol. ii. Diss, xviii. 



JULIAN'S ATTEMPT DEFEATED. 321 

more than seventeen hundred years continued a desolate 
waste. The Jews themselves, still miraculously preserved 
a distinct people, are, as we see, scattered over the whole 
earth, invigorating the faith of the Christian, flashing con- 
viction in the face of the infidel, and constituting an univer- 
sal, permanent, and invincible evidence of the truth of 
Christianity. 

In order to invalidate, as he supposed, this evidence, the 
apostate emperor Julian, impelled by a spirit of enmity 
against the Christians, about A. D. 36*3, made an attempt to 
rebuild the city and temple of Jerusalem, and to recall the 
Jews to their own country. He assigned immense sums for 
the execution of this great design, and commanded Alypius 
of Antioch (who had formerly served as a lieutenant in Bri- 
tain) to superintend the work, and the governor of the pro- 
vince to assist him therein. But (says Ammianus Marcel- 
linus, a heathen historian,) " whilst they urged with vigour 
and diligence the execution of the work, horrible balls of 
fire, breaking out near the foundation, with frequent and 
reiterated attacks, rendered the place, from time to time, 
inaccessible to the scorched and blasted workmen; and the 
victorious element continuing in this manner,, obstinately 
and resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, 
the undertaking was abandoned." Speaking of this event, 
even Gibbon, who is notorious for his scepticism, acknow T - 
ledges, that " an earthquake, a whirlwind, and a fiery 
eruption, which overturned and scattered the new founda- 
tions of the temple, are attested, with some variations, by 
contemporary and respectable evidence, by Ambrose, bishop 
of Milan, Chrysostom, and Gregory Nazianzen, the latter 
of whom published his account before the expiration of the 
same year."* To these may be added the names of Zemuch 
David, a Jew, who confesses that " Julian was hindered by 
God in the attempt;" of Rufinus a Latin, of Theodoret and 
Sozomen among the orthodox, of Philostorgius an Arian, 
and of Socrates, a favourer of the Novatians, who all re- 
corded the same wonderful interposition of Providence, 
while the eye-witnesses of the fact were yet living. The 
words of Sozomen to this purport are remarkable : " If it 
yet seem incredible," says he, " to any one, he may repair 
both to witnesses of it yet living, and to them who have 
* Decline and Fall, vol. iv. 8vo. page 107. 



323 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 

heard it from their mouths ; yea, they may view the foun- 
dations, lying yet bare and naked." Besides, it may be 
added, that no other reason has ever been alleged, why Ju- 
lian should abandon his magnificent but impious design. 

Thus was this celebrated emperor " taken in his own 
craftiness,' ' and his presumptuous attempt to frustrate the 
plans, and falsify the declarations of infinite omnipotence 
and wisdom, converted into a new and striking evidence of 
their certainty and truth.* 

We shall now proceed to reply to two or three objections, 
which may be rashly opposed to the impregnable argument 
which the preceding account furnishes in defence of our 
religion. 

I. It may be alleged, that the prophecies, whose fulfil- 
ment has been demonstrated, were not written until after 
the events to which they refer, were past. 

Assertion is not proof; and even a conjecture to this 
effect, in the face of the historic testimony, and general 
sentiment of seventeen ages, would be ridiculous. On the 
faith, then, of all antiquity, we affirm, that the gospels con- 
taining these predictions were written before the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, and we confirm this assertion by parti- 
cular proof. The gospel of St. Matthew, who died previ- 
ously to that event, supposed to have been written about 
eight years after the ascension of our Saviour, was pub- 
lished before the dispersion of the apostles ; for Eusebius 
says, that St. Bartholomew took a copy of it with him to 
India ; and the dispersion of the apostles took place within 
twelve years after the ascension of our Lord. Mark must 
have written his gospel at the latest in the time of Nero, 
for he died in the eighth year of that emperor's reign. The 
gospel by St. Luke was written before the Acts, as the first 
verses of that narrative prove ; and the Acts were written 
before the death of St. Paul, for they carry down his history 
only to A. D. 63 ; whereas he was not put to death until 
the 12th of Nero, the very year before the Jewish war com- 
menced. Of Luke's death the time is uncertain. As to 
the evangelist John, he both lived and wrote after the de- 
struction of Jerusalem; but then, as if purposely to prevent 

* This subject is discussed at length, with singular ingenuity and 
force of argument, by the learned bishop Warburton, in his work en- 
titled Julian. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 323 

this very cavil, his gospel does not record the prophecies 
which foretold it ! Learned men, indeed, differ with regard 
to the precise year in which the evangelists Matthew, 
Mark, and Luke wrote their respective gospels ; but they 
universally agree, that they were both written and pub- 
lished before the destruction of Jerusalem. Indeed they 
contain the clearest internal evidence of having been writ- 
ten prior to that event. As to the gospel by St. John, some 
are of opinion that it was written before, and some after 
that event. 

II. If it be objected, that, although the gospel narratives 
might be written and published before the destruction of 
Jerusalem, yet that the predictions relating to that event 
may be subsequent interpolations ; we reply, that this can- 
not but be considered as a preposterous supposition, because 
those predictions are not confined to the particular chapters 
to which we have chiefly referred, but are closely and in- 
separably interwoven with the general texture of the his- 
tory — because the character of the style is uniform — be- 
cause there is no allusion, in conformity to the practice of 
the sacred historians,* to the fulfilment of these prophecies 
— because such an attempt must have destroyed the cause 
it professed to serve, and lastly, because " no unbeliever of 
the primitive times (whether Jew or Gentile,) when pressed, 
as both frequently were, by this prophecy, appear to have 
had recourse to the charge of forgery or interpolation." It 
may be added, also, that in modern times, no distinguished 
unbeliever (not even the arch-infidels Voltaire and Gibbon) 
has had the temerity so much as to insinuate a charge of 
this nature. 

III. It may be alleged, that the accomplishments of our 
Lord's predictions relative to the destruction of Jerusalem, 
ought not to be deemed supernatural, inasmuch as the dis- 
tresses of all great cities, during a siege, are similar, and 
because it is probable that, some time or other, such should 
be the fate of every city of this description ; and that since 
the obstinacy of the Jews was great, and their fortifications 
were strong, when war did come, Jerusalem was more 
likely to suffer under that form of it than any other. 

In answer to this objection we remark, that it was not 
merely foretold that Jerusalem was to be destroyed, but that 
* Vide, particularly, Acts xi. 28. 



324 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 

it was to be destroyed by the Romans ; and so it was. But 
was this then a likely event? When our Lord delivered 
his predictions, Judea was already completely in their hands. 
Was it a probable thing that it should be desolated by its 
own masters 1 Or was it a natural thing that they should 
be indifferent to the revenue which was derived from a 
country so populous and fertile ? Again, was it likely that 
this petty province should provoke the wrath, and defy the 
power, of the universal empire! Or was it to be supposed 
that the mistress of the world, irresistible to all nations, in- 
stead of controlling, should deem it worthy of her utterly to 
exterminate a state comparatively so insignificant 1 Or did 
it accord with the disposition or custom of the Romans, like 
Goths, to demolish buildings famed for their antiquity and 
magnificence? Rather was it not to have been expected 
that they would preserve them, to maintain the renown and 
glory of their empire ? Nevertheless, as we have seen, they 
did destroy them, and even the illustrious temple of Jerusa- 
lem, the chief ornament of Asia, and the wonder of the world. 
But it was predicted that " thus it must be ;" and therefore 
Titus himself, with all his authority and exertions, could not 
preserve it. 

But there are a number of very material circumstances 
closely interwoven with the prophecy, that still further 
identify the events which fulfilled it, and demonstrate that 
the prophecy itself was something very different from a 
happy conjecture, suggested by the aspect of the times, or 
conclusions from past experience. For, 

1. Our Lord foretold, as " the beginning of sorrows " and 
as alarming harbingers of his " coming" as " the Son of 
man" to destroy Jerusalem, that terrible calamities would 
prevail in various parts of the world, during the interme- 
diate period ; and unquestionably this was the case. But it 
is very material to remark here, that our Lord did not de- 
scribe these calamities in general terms merely, as an im- 
postor might have done, but distinctly specified them thus : 
rumours of wars-factual wars — nation rising against nation 
— kingdom rising against kingdom — famines — pestilences — 
and earthquakes, in divers places : which all came to pass 
accordingly, and nearly in the very order in which they 
were foretold. False prophets, also, were not merely to 
. arise — but to personate the Messiah, to pretend to miracu- 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 325 

lous powers, and to deceive many ; and such were the cha- 
racters and success of those which actually appeared. — 
Again, the prognostics are not described as " sights" 
merely, but as "fearful sights ;" not generally as " signs" 
but as "great signs from heaven;" and such they were. 
These wonderful appearances stand last in the prophecy, 
and they occurred, according to Josephus, on the very eve 
of the Jewish war.* 

2. The investment of Jerusalem was to take place " sud- 
denly" " as a snare" which predictions, as we have seen, 
were accomplished in the most surprising and extraordinary 
manner. 

3. Our Lord declared also, that, " except those days (i. e. 
the ' days of vengeance') should be shortened, there should 
no flesh be saved; but for the elect } s\ sake (said he) those 
days shall be shortened." And they were shortened ac- 
cordingly; 1st, by the determination of Titus vigorously to 
push the siege by assault, in opposition to the opinions of 
his officers, w T ho recommended the more tedious plan of 
blockade : 2dly, by the conduct of the Jews themselves, 
who accelerated the capture of their city by intestine divi- 
sions and mutual slaughters, contrary to what is usual upon 
such emergencies, in which a common sense of danger or- 
dinarily tends to unite contending parties against the com- 
mon foe : 3dly, by the madness of the factions in burning 
storehouses full of provisions, and thus wasting the strength 
which was necessary for the defence of the place : 4thly, 
by the extraordinary panic by w T hich the Jews were seized 
when the Romans made their final attack on the higher city, 
in consequence of which they fled affrighted out of their 
strong holds, which Titus afterwards pronounced to be im- 
pregnable; and, lastly, by the crowded state of the city du- 
ring the siege, which, as we have before remarked, occa- 
sioned pestilential disorders, and hastened the approach of 
famine. 

4. Our Lord likewise foretold that his followers should 
escape the destruction of Jerusalem; and accordingly, 
whilst countless multitudes of unbelieving Jews were fa- 
tally involved in this calamity, not a single Christian pe- 

* Vide page 34—40. 

t i. e. forlhe " sake" of the Christians, who, no doubt, prayed ar- 
dently for the termination of these calamities. 

2 E 



326 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 

rished therein; for he that " knoweth how to deliver the 
godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the 
day of judgment to be punished,"* had said, that " not a 
hair of their heads should perish."^ Who that seriously 
meditates on these equitable arrangements of Providence, 
can help exclaiming, with the devout psalmist— ■" Verily 
there is a reward for the righteous, verily he is a God that 
judgeth in the earth!" . . 

5 Our Lord declared also that the extreme miseries ot 
the Jews should be without a parallel: and they certainly 
were, as Josephus himself repeatedly testifies, and as his 
history abundantly proves, 

6. Again, our Lord foretold, that before the destruction 
of Jerusalem, the " gospel should be preached in all the 
world as a witness, unto all nations." This prediction, as 
we have seen already, was fully accomplished also; and 
yet, considering the character and condition of the instru- 
ments, the nature of the truths which they promulgated, 
the malignant opposition of their own countrymen, and the 
contempt with which, as Jews, they were regarded by the 
Gentile nations— nothing could scarcely have been con- 
ceived less probable than such an event. 

7. Our Lord further predicted, that the then existing ge- 
neration should not " pass away before all these things 
were fulfilled ;[ and in conformity hereto, they were un- 
filled within forty years from the date of the prophecy. 
This is a very different thing from their being accomplished 
some time or other. Our Lord had intimated also, that the 
evangelist John should survive the destruction of Jerusalem ; 
and he survived it accordingly, more than twenty-five years, 
and died at Ephesus nearly one hundred years old. 5 How 
came it to pass that he who foresaw the persecutions ot his 
disciples, and was therefore sensible of the dangers to which 
their lives would be exposed, should venture to predict that 
one of the most distinguished and zealous among them, 
should escape martyrdom, and demonstrate, so long after the 
accomplishment of the prophecy, that the generation to 
which he addressed it had not even then " passed away s 

Now if the destruction of Jerusalem were a subject ot 
human conjecture merely, how came so great a variety ot 
* 2 Peter ii. 9. J Luke xxi. 13. 

t Matt. xxiv. 34. $ John hi. 22. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 327 

remarkable and improbable circumstances, as we have enu- 
merated, to be unnecessarily interwoven with the prophecy 7 ? 
And how happened it that, in relation to those circumstances, 
as well as all others, of which the number is not small, the 
prophecy should be exactly fulfilled ! 

IV. If this prophecy be ascribed to political sagacity, we 
would ask, on the supposition of the infidel, how it hap- 
pened that a carpenter's son, living nearly the whole of his 
life in privacy, associating chiefly with the poor, without 
access to the councils of princes, or to the society of the 
great, should possess a degree of political discernment to 
which no statesman would deem it less than folly to lay 
claim? Besides, how came he to predict the ruin of his 
own country, and at that very season, too, when all his 
countrymen turned their eyes to a deliverer, who should 
restore its sovereignty, consolidate its power, and extend 
both its boundaries and its renown 7 And lastly, how came 
he even to conceive, much more cherish, such an idea, dia- 
metrically contrary as it was to all the stubborn and deep- 
rooted prejudices of a Jew'? 

Thus we perceive that the very objections which infide- 
lity opposes to our argument, instead of invalidating, tend 
only more fully to illustrate and confirm it. And such, in- 
deed, must always be the happy effects of that hostility 
which is directed against the evidence of the Christian faith, 
since, the more carefully and attentively we examine the 
foundations upon which it rests, the more perfectly must we 
be convinced of the immoveable stability of the superstruc- 
ture. Of that evidence, the prophecy which we have re- 
viewed most certainly constitutes a very striking and pro- 
minent part ; from every light and position in which it can 
be contemplated it constantly derives new lustre and effect; 
and it may safely be considered " as an unquestionable 
proof of the divine foreknowledge of our Lord, and the di- 
vine authority of the gospel : and on this ground only, were 
it necessary, we might securely rest the whole fabric of our 
religion. Indeed, this remarkable prediction has always 
been considered, by every impartial person, as one of the 
most powerful arguments in favour of Christianity ; and in 
our own times, more particularly, a man of distinguished 
1 talents, and acknowledged eminence in his profession, and 
in the constant habit of weighing, sifting, and scrutinizing 



328 ADDRESS TO CHRISTIANS. 

evidence, with the minutest accuracy in courts of justice, 
has publicly declared, that he considered this prophecy, if 
there were nothing else to support Christianity, as abso- 
lutely irresistible."* 

Let us, then, if we are Christians indeed, offer up our 
grateful acknowledgments to the Almighty, who hath laid 
such firm foundations for our faith. Let us exult in the in- 
violable certainty of his holy word, and assure ourselves that 
his promises are as infallible as his predictions : to " the 
witness"] within us, and to an acquaintance with the inte- 
rior excellence of the gospel, let us labour to add a more 
perfect knowledge of the historical and moral evidence 
which defends it ; that thus we may be better qualified to 
convince gainsayers. More particularly, let us attend to 
that " sure word of prophecy, whereunto we shall do well to 
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place." \ 

If we are Christians in name only, let us receive a salu- 
tary admonition from that exemplary vengeance which was 
inflicted by the Almighty upon the whole Jewish nation ; 
who, while " they professed that they knew God, in works 
denied him;" and while they boasted that they were his 
peculiar people, remained " strangers to the covenant of 
promise" Let us also seriously reflect, that, as then he 
was not a Jew who was only one " outwardly, in the letter" 
merely, and whose praise was of men — so now, in like man- 
ner, he only is a Christian who is one " inwardly," whose 
religion is seated in the heart ; " in the spirit and not in 
the letter ; whose praise is not of men but of God."§ 

Let the unbeliever, for whose benefit, chiefly, the pre- 
ceding pages were written, seriously ponder their contents. 
Should the evidence which they contain in favour of Chris- 
tianity fail to convince him of its divine origin, it may be 
important for him to ask himself the following questions : 
" Can I reasonably require, for that purpose, stronger moral 
evidence than this? Can I conceive it possible that stronger 
evidence of this kind should be afforded 7 Am I capable 
of forming a scheme, of historical and moral proof, which 

* See the Bishop of London's " Lectures on the Gospel of St. Mat- 
thew;" and Mr. Erskine's eloquent speech at the trial of Williams, 
for publishing Paine 's Age of Reason. 

t 1 John v. 10. t 2 Peter i. 19. 

$ Romans ii. 28, 29. 



ADDRESS TO THE UNBELIEVER, &c. 329 

shall not be liable to greater and more numerous objections? 
If I imagine myself equal to a task, at once so comprehen- 
sive and profound, have I also the resolution to enter upon 
it, to publish the scheme which I shall construct, for the de- 
cision of the world, and to stake the credit of mv infidelity 
upon it 1" 

But it may be proper to inform the deist, that the faith 
which we wish him to possess is not merely an admission 
upon evidence, that " all scripture is given by inspiration 
of Goa\" (which, standing alone, has no higher moral value 
than the faith of education which he ridicules,) but a vital, 
active principle, a faith that will " purify his heart ;" that 
" works by love;" that will enable him to "fight the good- 
fight" " to overcome the world" and to obtain " a crown of 
life" and " an incorruptible inheritance" in heaven.* It 
may be proper also to remind the unbeliever, that the evi- 
dence which has been adduced, constitutes one only of those 
numerous bulwarks, more impregnable than the towers of 
Jerusalem, which encompass and defend Christianity. But 
if this be the fact — and is it not? how great must be his te- 
merity ! how hopeless his warfare ! how certain his defeat ! 

To the Jew we would say — Suspend, if it be practicable, 
the prejudices which you inherit from your forefathers, 
whilst you ponder, for one hour, the important and interest- 
ing subject of these pages — to you peculiarly interesting 
and important. Is it possible that you can attentively re- 
flect upon the destruction of " the beloved city," the disper- 
sion of your nation into all countries — the terrible calami- 
ties which have every where pursued them, for nearly 1800 
years, even unto this day — and not trace therein the con- 
dign and predicted punishment of their original rejection, 
and continued contempt of that very Messiah whose cha- 
racter your own scriptures so faithfully pourtray,f and 
whose advent, precisely at the time of his actual appearance, 
they as clearly foretold 1\ But your ancestors did not only 
reject, they also slew their Saviour. " His blood" said 
they, when calling upon Pilate to crucify him, " his blood 
be on us, and upon our children" " A most fatal impreca- 
tion, and most dreadfully fulfilled upon them at the siege of 

* Acts xv. 9; Gal. v. 6 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7; 1 John v. 4, 5 ; James i. 3, 
2; 1 Peter i. 4,5. 
t Isaiah iii. 53. | Dan. ix. 26, 27. 

2 e 2 



330 ADDRESS TO THE JEW. 

Jerusalem, when the vengeance of heaven overtook them 
with a fury unexampled in the history of the world; when 
they were exposed at once to the horrors of famine, of sedi- 
tion, of assassination, and the sword of the Romans."* Ob- 
serve, too, the striking correspondence which marked their 
crimes in their punishment. "They put Jesus to death 
when the nation was assembled to celebrate the passover ; 
and when the nation was assembled for the same purpose, 
Titus shut them up within the walls of Jerusalem.! The 
rejection of the Messiah was their crime, and the following' 
of false Messiahs to their destruction was their punishment. J 
They bought Jesus as a slave ; and they themselves were 
afterwards sold and bought as slaves at the lowest prices. J 
They preferred a robber and a murderer to Jesus, whom 
they crucified between two thieves ; and they themselves 
were afterwards infested with bands of thieves and robbers. || 
They put Jesus to death, lest the Romans should come and 
take away their place and nation ; and the Romans did come 
and take away their place and nation ;1F and what is still 
more striking, and still more strongly marks the judgment 
of God upon them, they were punished with that very kind 
of death which they were so eager to inflict on the Sa- 
viour of mankind, the death of the cross ; and that in such 
prodigious numbers, that Josephus assures us, there wanted 
wood for crosses, and room to place them in."** 

Now, according to our own scriptures, that fatal catas- 
trophe which involved your ancestors in all these miseries, 
was not to take place until after the coming and crucifixion 
of their Messiah : for thus spake the prophet Daniel, pro- 
phesying almost five hundred and forty years before the 
birth of the Messiah : " Know and understand, that from 
the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build 
Jerusalem (i. e. after its destruction by the Babylonians) 
unto Messiah the prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score 
and two weeks :\\ the street shall be built again, and the wall 

* See the Bishop of London's Lectures, vol. ii. page 284 ; and Bishop 
Newton on the Prophecies, Diss. 21. 

t See page 304. t Ibid. 288. 

§ Ibid. 28G. || Ibid. 301. 1F Ibid. 302. 

** See the Bishop of London's Lectures, and Bishop Newton, as 
before quoted; and page 295 of this work. 

tt In prophetical language, a day is reckoned for a year, or seven 
years to every prophetical week. This key is given us by Moses, 



ADDRESS TO THE JEW. 331 

even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks 
shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people 
of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and the 
sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and 
unto the end of the war desolations are determined"* Such 
is the prediction of one of your prophets ; which not only 
proves that the appearance and death of the Messiah were 
to precede the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, but 
also marks the precise time when, in the person of Jesus 
Christ, he actually did appear. The same prophet also thus 
describes the great purposes of his advent, viz. " to finish 
the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make 
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting 
righteousness" And are not these precisely the very pur- 
poses for which, according to the writers of the New Tes- 
tament, Jesus Christ came into the world, and which, before 
his departure out of it, he fully accomplished. Daniel pre- 
dicted, moreover, that the Messiah should " cause the sacri- 
fice and the oblation to cease ;" and accordingly, still to use 
his language, has not " the daily sacrifice been taken away, 

Lev. xxv. 8, and Numbers xiv. 34; and also by Ezekiel iv. 5, 6; and 
by this it appears, that from the commission granted by Artaxerxes 
the king of Persia in the seventh year of his reign, to Ezra to rebuild 
Jerusalem, until the complete restoration of the city, there were ex- 
actly 49 years, or seven weeks. From this period until the first pro- 
clamation of the Messiah by John the Baptist, there were exactly 434 
years, or sixty-two weeks. John's ministry terminated at the end of 
three years and a half, when our Lord began to preach " the king- 
dom of God" and thus virtually, " in the midst of the week, caused 
the sacrifice and oblation to cease ;" (see Daniel ix. 27,) for he himself 
declared that " the law and the prophets (i. e. the ceremonial law, or 
law of sacrifices, &c. and the prophets under it) were until John ; since 
that time the kingdom of God is preached." And exactly at the end of 
this prophetical week, i. e. at the expiration of the remaining three 
years and a half, he confirmed the abolition of the Levitical law by 
the " one offering of himself" upon the cross. This ever memorable 
event happened precisely in the very month which completed the 490 
years, or whole period of seventy weeks, mentioned by Daniel in the 
24th verse of the above cited chapter; and it deserves the particular 
attention of the reader, that Ferguson, the celebrated astronomer, 
who applied the principles of his favourite science to this very pre- 
diction of Daniel, declares, as the result of his calculations, that 
" prophetic year of Messiah's being cut off, was the very same as the 
astronomical." See this subject very fully and satisfactorily discussed 
in the latter part of the first volume of Prideaux's Connexions. 
* Daniel ix. 25, 26. 



332 ADDRESS TO THE JEW. 

and the abomination that maketh desolate been set up , ? " and 
has not your nation (to use the words of another of your 
prophets) abode " many days without a king, and without a 
prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and 
without an ephod, and without a teraphimf* It was like- 
wise foretold by Daniel, that the Messiah would " seal up 
the vision and prophecy ;" and accordingly this prediction, 
like all the rest in your scriptures relating to the Messiah, 
was accomplished in Jesus Christ ; for is it not clear that 
his favourite disciple St. John was the last inspired prophet ? 
Did not the prophetic vision close with his " Revelation ?" 
and hath any one since prevailed to unloose the mysterious 
and inviolable seal? It may further be proper to remind 
you, that precisely at the period of Christ's advent, a lively 
expectation of the appearance of your Messiah in Judea 
was not only current throughout your own nation, but even 
obtained in many parts of the Roman empire. Hence the 
rise of those "false Christs" and " false prophets," which 
we have described, and the fatal credulity of your ancestors 
in believing their declarations. They promised temporal 
deliverance, dominion, and glory ; therefore they were re- 
garded. The true Messiah offered a release from the cap- 
tivity of sin and Satan, a spiritual salvation, and everlasting- 
glory in heaven; and therefore he was rejected. Thus 
they manifested their preference of the pleasures of sense, 
and earthly grandeur, before holy enjoyments, and the glo- 
ries of an unseen and future world. When, however, he 
was thus ignominiously treated by them, he in mercy turned 
to us Gentiles. O ! that our enjoyment of your privileges 
might provoke you to jealousy ! But you are still looking 
forward to a temporal deliverer. O ! drop this fatal delu- 
sion, and be assured that until, as a people, you shall ac- 
knowledge Jesus Christ to be the only Saviour from sin, 
guilt, condemnation, and punishment (which was the cha- 
racter in which he at first offered himself to you,) you will 
wait in vain for the re-establishment of your " place and 
nation" 

All we ask of you is to investigate this matter calmly and 

candidly. " Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 

And happy are we to discover, that among many of the 

dispersed of the house of Israel there is now manifested a 

* Hosea iii. 4. 



REMARKS, &c. 333 

disposition to serious inquiry. May this disposition become 
universal, and we doubt not the same blessings will accom- 
pany it, as attended the investigation of the noble Bereans. 
(Acts xvii. 11, 12.) 

Finally, brethren, may the Lord, according to the words 
of his prophet Zechariah, " pour upon the house of David, 
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace 
and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom 

THEY HAVE PIERCED," &C. (Zech. xii. 10.) 

Again, the catastrophe which we have described, is full 
of the most important instruction to the whole world. From 
amidst the ruins of Jerusalem, a voice may be heard calling 
loudly and incessantly in the ears of all nations, and say- 
ing, " Beware that ye depart not from the living God /" 
whilst the insulted descendants of Abraham, scattered over 
the face of the earth, re-echo, in despite of themselves, the 
solemn admonition, and in effect exclaim, " Behold ! pictured 
in ouf fate the awful consequences of apostacy, and espe- 
cially of our rejection of the Messiah, the Redeemer of the 
world!" 

To the American nation, between which and the king- 
dom of Israel, during the period of its prosperity and glory, 
there are so many striking features of resemblance, these 
solemn warnings come with peculiar emphasis and import. 
May the Almighty mercifully incline us, as a people, to re- 
gard them with due seriousness and attention, lest, after 
having been exalted like the Jews, by our civil and reli- 
gious privileges, to the highest distinction among the na- 
tions, we at length fall, like them, into proportional ruin and 

- disgrace. The progress of iniquity in our country is al- 
ready sufficiently great, notwithstanding a variety of en- 
couraging considerations,* to excite in the mind of the se- 
* The excellency of our free constitution — the wisdom of our coun- 
cils — the moderate, just, and humane temper of our government — the 
purity and equity with which justice is administered in our courts of 
law, and by our magistrates in general — the spirit of freedom and 
unanimity which pervades the country — the patriotic ardour which is 
displayed in its defence — an evident revival of the spirit of religion 

i in our churches — the decline of bigotry — the cordial union of pious 
individuals belonging to different religious communities, and their 

I friendly co-operation in the same benevolent undertakings — the erec- 
tion of societies for the promotion of temperance, the better observ- 
ance of the Lord's Day, and the increase of schools for the religious 
instruction of children — the establishment of manv other institutions 



334 REMARKS ON THE 

rious Christian very alarming apprehensions. Alternately 
he trembles and weeps while he contemplates the impiety, 
and the dreadful insensibility which every where prevail, 
both as it respects our deserts, and the successive manifesta- 
tions of the divine displeasure against us. Without any in- 
vidious comparison between the moral state of the present 
and that of former generations, we would ask, What is the 
fact concerning ourselves] Can any one say, that a pious, 
devout, and humble demeanour is the characteristic of our 
times, or that every species of wickedness does not alarm- 
ingly prevail throughout the land I So far from the pure 
spirit of Christianity animating, directing, and governing 
our conduct, is there a principle or maxim of common mora- 
lity that is not every day outraged among us ! What is the 
national feeling upon sacred things] How beats the pulse 
of society here 1 Talk of religion, make only a distant al- 
lusion to it, what is the effect ? A repulsive silence, a 
frown, a sneer, perhaps an insult. What is the national 
sentiment'. 1 What are the constant topics of discourse! To 
what principles do we make our appeal ? By what maxim 

for the more general diffusion of religious knowledge in our land, and 
for imparting the blessings of Christianity to heathen nations : and, 
above all, the formation of societies for the more extensive dispersion 
of the holy scriptures in the world, and for promoting their translation 
into languages through which revelation hath not permanently spoken 
to man — all these considerations, and a variety of others which might 
be enumerated, we admit are not the features of a country forsaken 
by the Almighty, and given up to be a prey to its enemies, but are 
rather encouraging indications of his gracious and paternal favour 
toward us. Still when we reverse the picture, and seriously reflect 
upon the spirit of infidelity which pervades, and the abominable 
immoralities which overspread our country, it is impossible not to 
feel that we are justly exposed to the wrath and indignation of hea- 
ven. The profanation of the name of God, sabbath-breaking, neg- 
lect of religious ordinances, contempt of genuine piety, swearing, 
perjuries, drunkenness, adultery, prostitution, &c. and such am inor- 
dinate pursuit of earthly things as absorbs all due regard to those of 
a future state, are impieties and vices that dreadfully prevail in the 
different classes of the community ; and which, while they exclude 
from the divine favour the individuals who are justly chargeable 
with such enormities, are secretly operating as so many principles ol 
dissolution in the great social edifice of our country, tending to di- 
minish the security of our civil and religious privileges, and to ex- 
pose us to the dangers of an external hostility, against which our 
powerful means of national defence, under the blessing of divine pro- 
vidence, might otherwise prove an impregnable barrier. 



MORAL CHARACTER, &c. OF AMERICA. 335 

do we regulate our actions ? Are they the principles and 
maxims of a spurious philosophy, of an arbitrary system of 
morals, of public opinion, of custom, or the fashion of the 
day ? or are they the principles and maxims of the religion 
of Jesus'? Let daily experience reply to these questions. 
What, also, is our colloquial phraseology ? Are not words 
and phrases profane, immoral, and anti-Christian in their 
spirit and tendency, interwoven in its very texture 1 And 
are not such as convey ideas of the first importance to man- 
kind, almost totally excluded from it? The word holiness, 
for instance, which is descriptive of the " highest style of 
man" here, and the brightest jewel in his crown of glory 
hereafter, is almost banished from conversation; and the 
appropriate expressions by which the progress of Chris- 
tianity in the heart (and what is a Christianity that does not 
obtain dominion here ?) are contemned and ridiculed as fana- 
tical! Nay, even an allusion to a general or particular 
providence, if it be made with becoming seriousness, is 
frequently conceived to indicate an offensive degree of re- 
ligion. If these remarks are unfortunately but too appli- 
cable to the community at large, it is at least consolatory 
to reflect, that in all classes of it there are many bright and 
excellent examples of genuine piety and virtue. Still it 
may be said, what are these among so many 1 Yet few as 
they comparatively are, they constitute the salt* of our 
country; and 

This " salt preserves us ; more corrupted else, 
And therefore more obnoxious at this hour, 
Than Sodom in her day had power to be, 
For whom God heard his Abra'm plead in vahv't 

The truly pious of the land, indeed, after all that can be 
said of our naval and military force (and that is not a little,) 
are the grand bulwarks of our national security ; and the 
regard of Heaven to them and to their prayers, is the 
surest ground of hope for us as a people. It becomes us, 
however, to " stand in awe" to cease from sin, " to repent 
and do works meet for repentance ;" for although our 
existence as a nation, and our institutions, may be preserved, 
we have still just reason to apprehend the less signal marks 
of the divine displeasure. It is not indeed, for blind and 
erring man to estimate the proportions of national delin- 

* Matt. v. 13. t Cowper's Task, book iii. 



336 REMARKS ON THE 

quency, or to fix the time, the mode, or the severity of na- 
tional chastisements. Generally, however, it may be ob- 
served, that the number, value, and duration of the moral 
advantages which a nation enjoys, constitute the equitable 
measure of its guilt. Judging ourselves upon this principle, 
how malignant does our depravity appear ! How greatly 
aggravated our transgressions, how deeply stained our in- 
gratitude ! Still we seem insensible to our deserts. The 
sky gathers blackness ; we hear " the distant thunder that 
forebodes approaching storms ;" but no salutary dread pre- 
vails, no radical, no general reformation is discernible. A 
dissipation of mind, a sensualizing gaiety of manners, and 
the bitterest political contentions, pervade, and awfully in- 
fatuate the country. Dark and threatening clouds, at in- 
tervals succeeding each other, have hung over us for a time, 
and then dispersed ; and we flatter ourselves therefore that 
we shall continue to remain unpunished.* Nay, from a 
consideration of our national prosperity, and our means of 
defence and security, we grow presumptuously confident ; 
and regardless of the divine judgments which are so evi- 
dently " abroad in the earth" we in effect say, like the 
Jews, " none evil can come upon us" The finger of pro- 
phecy points to the destruction of a second Tyre, distin- 
guished above the nations for her commercial grandeur and 
prosperity ; and America, una wed, appropriates the descrip- 
tion to herself, saying, not merely " in her heart" but by 
positive declarations, J sit as a queen, and shall see no sor- 
row I But how rash and presumptuous is such language ! 
For shall not He who sustains and controls the universe, 
" whose power no creature is able to resist," and " who is 
the only giver of all victory ;" shall not he make vain the 
strength even of the proudest and mightiest people 1 " He 
that chastise th the heathen, shall not he punish" nations 
who apostatize from him, under countless obligations to 
love, duty, and allegiance, with which the heathen are to- 
tally unacquainted] From this vain-glorious spirit, so fatal 
to the stability of empires, may the Almighty mercifully de- 
liver us! The evils of this spirit are incalculable. It dis- 
sipates that salutary fear of providential retribution, which 
keeps nations in awe. It generates that headlong pre- 
sumption which rushes into dangers, and that haughtiness 
* Eccles. viii. 11. 



MORAL CHARACTER, &c, OF AMERICA. 337 

which precedes a fall. It throws wide open the flood-gates 
of iniquity, and paves the way to a radical and universal 
corruption of public morals. If, in the revolution of years, 
under the influence of such a principle of pride and vain 
confidence, this last state of degeneracy become ours, it re- 
quires no spirit of divination to perceive, that the awful 
doom of those great and ancient empires, whose dissolution 
and ruin the voice of history deplores, must await us also. 
Then indeed, the measure of our iniquities being once filled 
up, " He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth" and before 
whom " the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers" may 
render our national bulwarks as ineffectual for defence as 
w the small dust of the balance" — and, as a final display of 
his vengeance against inveterate and incorrigible apostacy, 
may send forth His commission to some great and powerful 
nation, which, copying the example, and emulating the fame 
of the ancient Romans, may convert our territory into a 
waste like Judea, and our cities into ruins like Jerusalem: — 
or from among ourselves, as in the short-lived Gallic re- 
public, a military demagogue may arise, who, regardless 
alike of the laws of God, and our constitutional privileges, 
shall ride over this once free land in the iron chariot of des- 
potism. 

For " that effeminacy, folly, lust, 
Enervate and enfeeble, and needs must, 
And that a nation shamefully debas'd, 
Will be despis'd and trampled on at last, 
Unless sweet Penitence her powers renew, 
Is truth, if history itself be true. 
There is a time, and justice marks the date 
For long forbearing clemency to wait: 
That hour elaps'd, th' incurable revolt 
Is punish'd, and down comes the thunderbolt." 
******** 

1 The word once giv'n' " and mutiny soon roars 
In all her gates, and shakes her distant shores ; 
The standards of all nations are unfurPd, 
She has one foe, and that one foe, the world. 
And if He doom that people with a frown, 
And mark them with the seal of wrath, press'd down, 
Obduracy takes place ; callous and tough, 
The reprobated race grows judgment proof; 
Earth shakes beneath them, and heaven roars above, 
But nothing scares them from the course they love. 
To the lascivious pipe, the wanton song, 
That charm down fear, they frolic it along, i 
2F 



338 CONCLUSION. 

With mad rapidity and unconcern, 
Down to the gulf from which is no return. 
They trust in navies, and their navies fail, 
God's curse can cast away ten thousand sail; 
They trust in armies, and their courage dies ; 
In wisdom, wealth, in fortune and in lies ; 
But all they trust in withers, as it must, 
When He commands, in whom they place no trust. 
Vengeance at last pours down upon their coast, 
A long despis'd, but now victorious host ; 
Tyranny sends the chain that must abridge 
The noble sweep of all their privilege. 
Gives liberty the last, the mortal shock, 
Slips the slave's collar on, and snaps the lock." 

Cowper. 



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